Spatial relation information based on random access messages

ABSTRACT

Methods, systems, and devices for wireless communication are described. A user equipment (UE) may transmit one or more random access messages during a random access procedure between the UE and a base station. The UE may receive a control signal that includes a spatial relation configuration for transmission, by the UE, of an uplink signal. The spatial relation configuration may indicate that transmission of the uplink signal is via a transmit beam used in transmitting one of the random access messages. The spatial relation configuration may configure a spatial relation information element (IE) to identify the random access message. The UE may receive the spatial relation configuration identifying the random access message, and the UE may transmit the uplink signal using a same transmit beam used for transmission of the random access message.

FIELD OF TECHNOLOGY

The present disclosure relates to wireless communication, includingspatial relation information based on random access messages.

BACKGROUND

Wireless communications systems are widely deployed to provide varioustypes of communication content such as voice, video, packet data,messaging, broadcast, and so on. These systems may be capable ofsupporting communication with multiple users by sharing the availablesystem resources (e.g., time, frequency, and power). Examples of suchmultiple-access systems include fourth generation (4G) systems such asLong Term Evolution (LTE) systems, LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) systems, orLTE-A Pro systems, and fifth generation (5G) systems which may bereferred to as New Radio (NR) systems. These systems may employtechnologies such as code division multiple access (CDMA), time divisionmultiple access (TDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA),orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA), or discrete Fourier transform spread orthogonalfrequency division multiplexing (DFT-S-OFDM). A wireless multiple-accesscommunications system may include one or more base stations or one ormore network access nodes, each simultaneously supporting communicationfor multiple communication devices, which may be otherwise known as userequipment (UE).

In some cases, a UE may transmit reference signals to a base station,for example, as part of one or more communications procedures. The UEmay transmit the reference signals to the base station using an uplinkbeam, which may be based on a downlink beam used to receive signals fromthe base station.

SUMMARY

The described techniques relate to improved methods, systems, devices,and apparatuses that support spatial relation information based onrandom access messages. Generally, the described techniques provide fora base station to indicate a random access message corresponding to apreferred transmit beam for a user equipment (UE) to use fortransmitting uplink signals. That is, the base station may indicate arandom access message for transmit beam identification. The UE and thebase station may perform a random access procedure to establish aconnection. The UE may transmit one or more uplink random accessmessages during the random access procedure. The base station may selecta transmit beam that is preferred by the base station from the transmitbeam(s) used by the UE to transmit the one or more uplink random accessmessages. The base station may transmit a control signal to identify therandom access message transmitted using the preferred transmit beam. Therandom access message indicated via the spatial relation configurationmay be a preamble message, a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH)message, or a reference signal used by the UE during the random accessprocedure. The control signal may include a spatial relationconfiguration for transmission, by the UE, of an uplink signal, such asa sounding reference signal (SRS), or some other uplink signal. Thespatial relation configuration may indicate that transmission of theuplink signal is via a transmit beam used in transmitting the identifiedrandom access message. The UE may receive the control signal identifyingthe random access message, and the UE may transmit the uplink signalusing the same transmit beam used for transmission of the random accessmessage. In some examples, the uplink signal may be an SRS, a physicaluplink control channel (PUCCH) signal, a configured grant (CG) PUSCHsignal, a dynamic grant (DG) PUSCH signal, or a physical random accesschannel (PRACH) signal.

A method for wireless communication at a UE is described. The method mayinclude transmitting a random access message during a random accessprocedure between the UE and a base station, receiving a control signalthat includes a spatial relation configuration for transmission, by theUE, of an uplink signal, the spatial relation configuration indicatingthat transmission of the uplink signal is via a transmit beam used intransmitting the random access message, and transmitting the uplinksignal using the transmit beam in accordance with the spatial relationconfiguration.

An apparatus for wireless communication at a UE is described. Theapparatus may include a processor, memory coupled with the processor,and instructions stored in the memory. The instructions may beexecutable by the processor to cause the apparatus to transmit a randomaccess message during a random access procedure between the UE and abase station, receive a control signal that includes a spatial relationconfiguration for transmission, by the UE, of an uplink signal, thespatial relation configuration indicating that transmission of theuplink signal is via a transmit beam used in transmitting the randomaccess message, and transmit the uplink signal using the transmit beamin accordance with the spatial relation configuration.

Another apparatus for wireless communication at a UE is described. Theapparatus may include means for transmitting a random access messageduring a random access procedure between the UE and a base station,means for receiving a control signal that includes a spatial relationconfiguration for transmission, by the UE, of an uplink signal, thespatial relation configuration indicating that transmission of theuplink signal is via a transmit beam used in transmitting the randomaccess message, and means for transmitting the uplink signal using thetransmit beam in accordance with the spatial relation configuration.

A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing code for wirelesscommunication at a UE is described. The code may include instructionsexecutable by a processor to transmit a random access message during arandom access procedure between the UE and a base station, receive acontrol signal that includes a spatial relation configuration fortransmission, by the UE, of an uplink signal, the spatial relationconfiguration indicating that transmission of the uplink signal is via atransmit beam used in transmitting the random access message, andtransmit the uplink signal using the transmit beam in accordance withthe spatial relation configuration.

In some examples of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described herein, transmitting the randomaccess message may include operations, features, means, or instructionsfor transmitting the random access message using the transmit beam,where the random access message indicated in the spatial relationconfiguration may be one of a preamble message, an uplink shared channelmessage, or a reference signal used by the UE during the random accessprocedure.

In some examples of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described herein, receiving the control signalmay include operations, features, means, or instructions for receivingthe control signal as a radio resource control (RRC) signal or a mediumaccess control (MAC) control element (CE) that configures the spatialrelation configuration as a spatial relation information element.

Some examples of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described herein may further includeoperations, features, means, or instructions for receiving a downlinkcontrol information (DCI) signal that schedules the uplink signal andthat indicates an identity of the random access message for the spatialrelation information element included in the control signal.

Some examples of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described herein may further includeoperations, features, means, or instructions for transmitting the randomaccess message, as a preamble random access message, during each of aset of multiple random access channel (RACH) occasions and identifying aspecific one of the set of multiple RACH occasions on which transmissionof the random access message was via the transmit beam.

In some examples of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described herein, identifying the specific oneof the set of multiple RACH occasions may include operations, features,means, or instructions for receiving an indication of the specific oneof the set of multiple RACH occasions via the control signal includingthe spatial relation configuration or via a random access (RA) radionetwork temporary identifier (RNTI) corresponding to a second randomaccess message received by the UE.

Some examples of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described herein may further includeoperations, features, means, or instructions for transmitting the randomaccess message, in the form of a preamble random access message, duringa RACH occasion, where the random access message includes a set ofrandom access repetition messages and identifying a specific one of theset of random access repetition messages on which transmission of therandom access message was via the transmit beam.

In some examples of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described herein, identifying the specific oneof the set of random access repetition messages may include operations,features, means, or instructions for receiving an indication of arepetition number corresponding to the specific one of the set of randomaccess repetition messages via the control signal including the spatialrelation configuration or via an RA-RNTI corresponding to a secondrandom access message received by the UE.

Some examples of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described herein may further includeoperations, features, means, or instructions for transmitting the randomaccess message via a set of multiple segments of a RACH occasion andreceiving the control signal including the spatial relationconfiguration, where the spatial relation configuration indicates asegment of the set of multiple segments.

Some examples of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described herein may further includeoperations, features, means, or instructions for transmitting the randomaccess message via an uplink channel, where the random access messageincludes a set of uplink channel repetitions of the random accessmessage and receiving the control signal including the spatial relationconfiguration, where the spatial relation configuration indicates anuplink channel repetition of the set of uplink channel repetitions.

Some examples of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described herein may further includeoperations, features, means, or instructions for transmitting a set ofone or more other uplink signals after performing the random accessprocedure using the transmit beam in accordance with the spatialrelation configuration, where the set of one or more other uplinksignals includes PUSCH signals, or PUCCH signals, or SRSs not configuredfor beam management, or a combination thereof.

Some examples of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described herein may further includeoperations, features, means, or instructions for receiving an RRCconfiguration indicating the set of one or more other uplink signals.

Some examples of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described herein may further includeoperations, features, means, or instructions for receiving a secondcontrol signal that includes a second spatial relation configuration fortransmission, by the UE, of a second set of one or more other uplinksignals, the second spatial relation configuration indicating thattransmission of the second set of one or more other uplink signals maybe via a second transmit beam and transmitting the second set of one ormore other uplink signals using the second transmit beam in accordancewith the second spatial relation configuration.

In some examples of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described herein, the spatial relationconfiguration indicates spatial relation information, a transmissionconfiguration indicator (TCI) state, or both corresponding to thetransmit beam used in transmitting the random access message.

In some examples of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described herein, the uplink signal includes aSRS, a PUCCH signal, a configured grant PUSCH signal, a dynamic grantPUSCH signal, or a PRACH signal.

A method for wireless communication at a base station is described. Themethod may include receiving, from a UE, a random access message duringa random access procedure between the UE and the base station,transmitting, to the UE, a control signal that includes a spatialrelation configuration for transmission, by the UE, of an uplink signal,the spatial relation configuration indicating that transmission of theuplink signal is via a transmit beam used in transmitting the randomaccess message, and receiving, from the UE, the uplink signal using thetransmit beam in accordance with the spatial relation configuration.

An apparatus for wireless communication at a base station is described.The apparatus may include a processor, memory coupled with theprocessor, and instructions stored in the memory. The instructions maybe executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to receive, from aUE, a random access message during a random access procedure between theUE and the base station, transmit, to the UE, a control signal thatincludes a spatial relation configuration for transmission, by the UE,of an uplink signal, the spatial relation configuration indicating thattransmission of the uplink signal is via a transmit beam used intransmitting the random access message, and receive, from the UE, theuplink signal using the transmit beam in accordance with the spatialrelation configuration.

Another apparatus for wireless communication at a base station isdescribed. The apparatus may include means for receiving, from a UE, arandom access message during a random access procedure between the UEand the base station, means for transmitting, to the UE, a controlsignal that includes a spatial relation configuration for transmission,by the UE, of an uplink signal, the spatial relation configurationindicating that transmission of the uplink signal is via a transmit beamused in transmitting the random access message, and means for receiving,from the UE, the uplink signal using the transmit beam in accordancewith the spatial relation configuration.

A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing code for wirelesscommunication at a base station is described. The code may includeinstructions executable by a processor to receive, from a UE, a randomaccess message during a random access procedure between the UE and thebase station, transmit, to the UE, a control signal that includes aspatial relation configuration for transmission, by the UE, of an uplinksignal, the spatial relation configuration indicating that transmissionof the uplink signal is via a transmit beam used in transmitting therandom access message, and receive, from the UE, the uplink signal usingthe transmit beam in accordance with the spatial relation configuration.

In some examples of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described herein, receiving the random accessmessage may include operations, features, means, or instructions forreceiving the random access message using the transmit beam, where therandom access message indicated in the spatial relation configurationmay be one of a preamble message, an uplink shared channel message, or areference signal used by the UE during the random access procedure.

In some examples of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described herein, transmitting the controlsignal may include operations, features, means, or instructions fortransmitting the control signal as an RRC signal or a MAC-CE thatconfigures the spatial relation configuration as a spatial relationinformation element.

Some examples of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described herein may further includeoperations, features, means, or instructions for transmitting a DCIsignal that schedules the uplink signal and that indicates an identityof the random access message for the spatial relation informationelement included in the control signal.

Some examples of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described herein may further includeoperations, features, means, or instructions for receiving the randomaccess message, as a preamble random access message, during each of aset of multiple RACH occasions and transmitting, to the UE, anindication of a specific one of the set of multiple RACH occasions onwhich reception of the random access message was via the transmit beam,where the indication of the specific one of the set of multiple RACHoccasions may be transmitted via the control signal including thespatial relation configuration or via a RA-RNTI corresponding to asecond random access message transmitted by the base station.

Some examples of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described herein may further includeoperations, features, means, or instructions for receiving the randomaccess message, in the form of a preamble random access message, duringa RACH occasion, where the random access message includes a set ofrandom access repetition messages and transmitting, to the UE, anindication of a repetition number corresponding to a specific one of theset of random access repetition messages on which reception of therandom access message was via the transmit beam, where the indication ofthe repetition number may be transmitted via the control signalincluding the spatial relation configuration or via an RA-RNTIcorresponding to a second random access message transmitted by the basestation.

Some examples of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described herein may further includeoperations, features, means, or instructions for receiving the randomaccess message via a set of multiple segments of a RACH occasion andtransmitting the control signal including the spatial relationconfiguration, where the spatial relation configuration indicates asegment of the set of multiple segments.

Some examples of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described herein may further includeoperations, features, means, or instructions for receiving the randomaccess message via an uplink channel, where the random access messageincludes a set of uplink channel repetitions of the random accessmessage and transmitting the control signal including the spatialrelation configuration, where the spatial relation configurationindicates an uplink channel repetition of the set of uplink channelrepetitions.

Some examples of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described herein may further includeoperations, features, means, or instructions for receiving, from the UE,a set of one or more other uplink signals using the transmit beam inaccordance with the spatial relation configuration, where the set of oneor more other uplink signals include PUSCH signals, or PUCCH signals, orSRSs not configured for beam management, or a combination thereof.

Some examples of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described herein may further includeoperations, features, means, or instructions for transmitting, to theUE, an RRC configuration indicating the set of one or more other uplinksignals.

Some examples of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described herein may further includeoperations, features, means, or instructions for transmitting, to theUE, a second control signal that includes a second spatial relationconfiguration for transmission, by the UE, of a second set of one ormore other uplink signals, the second spatial relation configurationindicating that transmission of the second set of one or more otheruplink signals may be via a second transmit beam and receiving, from theUE, the second set of one or more other uplink signals using the secondtransmit beam in accordance with the second spatial relationconfiguration.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a wireless communications system thatsupports spatial relation information based on random access messages inaccordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a wireless communications system thatsupports spatial relation information based on random access messages inaccordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example of a transmit beam selection timeline thatsupports spatial relation information based on random access messages inaccordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example of a transmit beam selection timeline thatsupports spatial relation information based on random access messages inaccordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

FIGS. 5 and 6 show block diagrams of devices that support spatialrelation information based on random access messages in accordance withaspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 7 shows a block diagram of a communications manager that supportsspatial relation information based on random access messages inaccordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 8 shows a diagram of a system including a device that supportsspatial relation information based on random access messages inaccordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

FIGS. 9 and 10 show block diagrams of devices that support spatialrelation information based on random access messages in accordance withaspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 11 shows a block diagram of a communications manager that supportsspatial relation information based on random access messages inaccordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 12 shows a diagram of a system including a device that supportsspatial relation information based on random access messages inaccordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

FIGS. 13 through 16 show flowcharts illustrating methods that supportspatial relation information based on random access messages inaccordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In some wireless communications systems, a base station and a userequipment (UE) may perform uplink beam management to select a transmitbeam for the UE to use for transmission of an uplink signal. In someexamples, the base station may indicate a spatial domain transmissionfilter (e.g., a transmit beam) that is preferred by the base station bypointing to a downlink reference signal, such as a synchronizationsignal block (SSB) or a channel state information reference signal(CSI-RS) that was received by the UE using the same spatial domaintransmission filter. However, if there is not correspondence betweenuplink and downlink beams at the UE, the base station may not point to adownlink reference signal. Uplink and downlink beam correspondence maynot be assumed if a transmit beam used for transmission of an uplinksignal is in a direction different than a receive beam used forreception of a downlink signal by the UE. For example, if the UEcommunicates with the base station via an uplink dense deploymentsystem, the UE may transmit uplink communications to one or more uplinknodes that may forward the uplink communications to the base station(e.g., over backhaul), and the UE may receive downlink communicationsdirectly from the base station. In another example, the UE may beconfigured with two or more uplink carriers than may correspond totransmit beams in different directions. In such cases, the UE may notassume beam correspondence between the uplink and downlink.

If the UE has established a radio resource control (RRC) connection withthe network, the base station may point to previous uplink transmissionsby the UE, such as sounding reference signal (SRS) transmissions, fortransmit beam identification. The UE may use a same transmit beam fortransmission of uplink signals as a transmit beam used for transmittingthe indicated uplink transmission. However, the base station may notindicate some types of uplink messages for transmit beam identification.For example, some control signaling, such as a spatial relationinformation element (IE) may not be configured to convey an identifier(ID) of other uplink messages, such as random access messages.

As described herein, the base station may indicate an uplink randomaccess message previously transmitted by the UE during a random accessprocedure for transmit beam identification. By referring to a randomaccess message, the base station may configure the UE to use a transmitbeam preferred by the base station for transmission of uplink signalsduring early initial access (e.g., shortly after a random accessprocedure) without uplink and downlink beam correspondence. In oneexample, the base station may transmit a spatial relation IE including afield that identifies the previous uplink random access message andindicates that the corresponding transmit beam is to be used. If the UEreceives the IE indicating an ID of a random access message previouslytransmitted by the UE, the UE will use the spatial relation information(e.g., a transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state, a spatialdomain transmission filter, a transmit beam, or any combination thereof)corresponding to the random access message to transmit an uplink signalsuch as an SRS, a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) signal, aphysical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) signal, or another random accesschannel (RACH) signal. The ID of the random access message indicated bythe spatial relation IE may correspond to a RACH occasion, a repetitionnumber of a RACH repetition message, a segment of a RACH occasion, aPUSCH repetition of a random access message transmitted by the UE, areference signal transmitted by the UE during the random accessprocedure, or any combination thereof.

In some examples, the UE may use the indicated transmit beam fortransmission of subsequent uplink signals until the base stationconfigures the UE with spatial relation information for a target uplinkchannel or reference signal. For example, during early initial accessafter the UE and base station perform the random access procedure, theUE may not be configured with spatial relation information fortransmitting uplink signals. As such, the UE may use the indicatedtransmit beam corresponding to a random access message until the UE isconfigured with spatial relation information.

Aspects of the disclosure are initially described in the context ofwireless communications systems. Additional aspects of the disclosureare described with reference to transmit beam selection timelines.Aspects of the disclosure are further illustrated by and described withreference to apparatus diagrams, system diagrams, and flowcharts thatrelate to spatial relation information based on random access messages.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a wireless communications system 100that supports spatial relation information based on random accessmessages in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. Thewireless communications system 100 may include one or more base stations105, one or more UEs 115, and a core network 130. In some examples, thewireless communications system 100 may be a Long Term Evolution (LTE)network, an LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) network, an LTE-A Pro network, or a NewRadio (NR) network. In some examples, the wireless communications system100 may support enhanced broadband communications, ultra-reliable (e.g.,mission critical) communications, low latency communications,communications with low-cost and low-complexity devices, or anycombination thereof.

The base stations 105 may be dispersed throughout a geographic area toform the wireless communications system 100 and may be devices indifferent forms or having different capabilities. The base stations 105and the UEs 115 may wirelessly communicate via one or more communicationlinks 125. Each base station 105 may provide a coverage area 110 overwhich the UEs 115 and the base station 105 may establish one or morecommunication links 125. The coverage area 110 may be an example of ageographic area over which a base station 105 and a UE 115 may supportthe communication of signals according to one or more radio accesstechnologies.

The UEs 115 may be dispersed throughout a coverage area 110 of thewireless communications system 100, and each UE 115 may be stationary,or mobile, or both at different times. The UEs 115 may be devices indifferent forms or having different capabilities. Some example UEs 115are illustrated in FIG. 1. The UEs 115 described herein may be able tocommunicate with various types of devices, such as other UEs 115, thebase stations 105, or network equipment (e.g., core network nodes, relaydevices, integrated access and backhaul (IAB) nodes, or other networkequipment), as shown in FIG. 1.

The base stations 105 may communicate with the core network 130, or withone another, or both. For example, the base stations 105 may interfacewith the core network 130 through one or more backhaul links 120 (e.g.,via an S1, N2, N3, or other interface). The base stations 105 maycommunicate with one another over the backhaul links 120 (e.g., via anX2, Xn, or other interface) either directly (e.g., directly between basestations 105), or indirectly (e.g., via core network 130), or both. Insome examples, the backhaul links 120 may be or include one or morewireless links.

One or more of the base stations 105 described herein may include or maybe referred to by a person having ordinary skill in the art as a basetransceiver station, a radio base station, an access point, a radiotransceiver, a NodeB, an eNodeB (eNB), a next-generation NodeB or agiga-NodeB (either of which may be referred to as a gNB), a Home NodeB,a Home eNodeB, or other suitable terminology.

A UE 115 may include or may be referred to as a mobile device, awireless device, a remote device, a handheld device, or a subscriberdevice, or some other suitable terminology, where the “device” may alsobe referred to as a unit, a station, a terminal, or a client, amongother examples. A UE 115 may also include or may be referred to as apersonal electronic device such as a cellular phone, a personal digitalassistant (PDA), a tablet computer, a laptop computer, or a personalcomputer. In some examples, a UE 115 may include or be referred to as awireless local loop (WLL) station, an Internet of Things (IoT) device,an Internet of Everything (IoE) device, or a machine type communications(MTC) device, among other examples, which may be implemented in variousobjects such as appliances, or vehicles, meters, among other examples.

The UEs 115 described herein may be able to communicate with varioustypes of devices, such as other UEs 115 that may sometimes act as relaysas well as the base stations 105 and the network equipment includingmacro eNBs or gNBs, small cell eNBs or gNBs, or relay base stations,among other examples, as shown in FIG. 1.

The UEs 115 and the base stations 105 may wirelessly communicate withone another via one or more communication links 125 over one or morecarriers. The term “carrier” may refer to a set of radio frequencyspectrum resources having a defined physical layer structure forsupporting the communication links 125. For example, a carrier used fora communication link 125 may include a portion of a radio frequencyspectrum band (e.g., a bandwidth part (BWP)) that is operated accordingto one or more physical layer channels for a given radio accesstechnology (e.g., LTE, LTE-A, LTE-A Pro, NR). Each physical layerchannel may carry acquisition signaling (e.g., synchronization signals,system information), control signaling that coordinates operation forthe carrier, user data, or other signaling. The wireless communicationssystem 100 may support communication with a UE 115 using carrieraggregation or multi-carrier operation. A UE 115 may be configured withmultiple downlink component carriers and one or more uplink componentcarriers according to a carrier aggregation configuration. Carrieraggregation may be used with both frequency division duplexing (FDD) andtime division duplexing (TDD) component carriers.

In some examples (e.g., in a carrier aggregation configuration), acarrier may also have acquisition signaling or control signaling thatcoordinates operations for other carriers. A carrier may be associatedwith a frequency channel (e.g., an evolved universal mobiletelecommunication system terrestrial radio access (E-UTRA) absoluteradio frequency channel number (EARFCN)) and may be positioned accordingto a channel raster for discovery by the UEs 115. A carrier may beoperated in a standalone mode where initial acquisition and connectionmay be conducted by the UEs 115 via the carrier, or the carrier may beoperated in a non-standalone mode where a connection is anchored using adifferent carrier (e.g., of the same or a different radio accesstechnology).

The communication links 125 shown in the wireless communications system100 may include uplink transmissions from a UE 115 to a base station105, or downlink transmissions from a base station 105 to a UE 115.Carriers may carry downlink or uplink communications (e.g., in an FDDmode) or may be configured to carry downlink and uplink communications(e.g., in a TDD mode).

A carrier may be associated with a particular bandwidth of the radiofrequency spectrum, and in some examples the carrier bandwidth may bereferred to as a “system bandwidth” of the carrier or the wirelesscommunications system 100. For example, the carrier bandwidth may be oneof a number of determined bandwidths for carriers of a particular radioaccess technology (e.g., 1.4, 3, 5, 10, 15, 20, 40, or 80 megahertz(MHz)). Devices of the wireless communications system 100 (e.g., thebase stations 105, the UEs 115, or both) may have hardwareconfigurations that support communications over a particular carrierbandwidth or may be configurable to support communications over one of aset of carrier bandwidths. In some examples, the wireless communicationssystem 100 may include base stations 105 or UEs 115 that supportsimultaneous communications via carriers associated with multiplecarrier bandwidths. In some examples, each served UE 115 may beconfigured for operating over portions (e.g., a sub-band, a BWP) or allof a carrier bandwidth.

Signal waveforms transmitted over a carrier may be made up of multiplesubcarriers (e.g., using multi-carrier modulation (MCM) techniques suchas orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) or discrete Fouriertransform spread OFDM (DFT-S-OFDM)). In a system employing MCMtechniques, a resource element may consist of one symbol period (e.g., aduration of one modulation symbol) and one subcarrier, where the symbolperiod and subcarrier spacing are inversely related. The number of bitscarried by each resource element may depend on the modulation scheme(e.g., the order of the modulation scheme, the coding rate of themodulation scheme, or both). Thus, the more resource elements that a UE115 receives and the higher the order of the modulation scheme, thehigher the data rate may be for the UE 115. A wireless communicationsresource may refer to a combination of a radio frequency spectrumresource, a time resource, and a spatial resource (e.g., spatial layersor beams), and the use of multiple spatial layers may further increasethe data rate or data integrity for communications with a UE 115.

One or more numerologies for a carrier may be supported, where anumerology may include a subcarrier spacing (Δf) and a cyclic prefix. Acarrier may be divided into one or more BWPs having the same ordifferent numerologies. In some examples, a UE 115 may be configuredwith multiple BWPs. In some examples, a single BWP for a carrier may beactive at a given time and communications for the UE 115 may berestricted to one or more active BWPs.

The time intervals for the base stations 105 or the UEs 115 may beexpressed in multiples of a basic time unit which may, for example,refer to a sampling period of T_(s)=1/(Δf_(max)N_(f)) seconds, whereΔf_(max) may represent the maximum supported subcarrier spacing, andN_(f) may represent the maximum supported discrete Fourier transform(DFT) size. Time intervals of a communications resource may be organizedaccording to radio frames each having a specified duration (e.g., 10milliseconds (ms)). Each radio frame may be identified by a system framenumber (SFN) (e.g., ranging from 0 to 1023).

Each frame may include multiple consecutively numbered subframes orslots, and each subframe or slot may have the same duration. In someexamples, a frame may be divided (e.g., in the time domain) intosubframes, and each subframe may be further divided into a number ofslots. Alternatively, each frame may include a variable number of slots,and the number of slots may depend on subcarrier spacing. Each slot mayinclude a number of symbol periods (e.g., depending on the length of thecyclic prefix prepended to each symbol period). In some wirelesscommunications systems 100, a slot may further be divided into multiplemini-slots containing one or more symbols. Excluding the cyclic prefix,each symbol period may contain one or more (e.g., N_(f)) samplingperiods. The duration of a symbol period may depend on the subcarrierspacing or frequency band of operation.

A subframe, a slot, a mini-slot, or a symbol may be the smallestscheduling unit (e.g., in the time domain) of the wirelesscommunications system 100 and may be referred to as a transmission timeinterval (TTI). In some examples, the TTI duration (e.g., the number ofsymbol periods in a TTI) may be variable. Additionally or alternatively,the smallest scheduling unit of the wireless communications system 100may be dynamically selected (e.g., in bursts of shortened TTIs (sTTIs)).

Physical channels may be multiplexed on a carrier according to varioustechniques. A physical control channel and a physical data channel maybe multiplexed on a downlink carrier, for example, using one or more oftime division multiplexing (TDM) techniques, frequency divisionmultiplexing (FDM) techniques, or hybrid TDM-FDM techniques. A controlregion (e.g., a control resource set (CORESET)) for a physical controlchannel may be defined by a number of symbol periods and may extendacross the system bandwidth or a subset of the system bandwidth of thecarrier. One or more control regions (e.g., CORESETs) may be configuredfor a set of the UEs 115. For example, one or more of the UEs 115 maymonitor or search control regions for control information according toone or more search space sets, and each search space set may include oneor multiple control channel candidates in one or more aggregation levelsarranged in a cascaded manner. An aggregation level for a controlchannel candidate may refer to a number of control channel resources(e.g., control channel elements (CCEs)) associated with encodedinformation for a control information format having a given payloadsize. Search space sets may include common search space sets configuredfor sending control information to multiple UEs 115 and UE-specificsearch space sets for sending control information to a specific UE 115.

Each base station 105 may provide communication coverage via one or morecells, for example a macro cell, a small cell, a hot spot, or othertypes of cells, or any combination thereof. The term “cell” may refer toa logical communication entity used for communication with a basestation 105 (e.g., over a carrier) and may be associated with anidentifier for distinguishing neighboring cells (e.g., a physical cellidentifier (PCID), a virtual cell identifier (VCID), or others). In someexamples, a cell may also refer to a geographic coverage area 110 or aportion of a geographic coverage area 110 (e.g., a sector) over whichthe logical communication entity operates. Such cells may range fromsmaller areas (e.g., a structure, a subset of structure) to larger areasdepending on various factors such as the capabilities of the basestation 105. For example, a cell may be or include a building, a subsetof a building, or exterior spaces between or overlapping with geographiccoverage areas 110, among other examples.

A macro cell generally covers a relatively large geographic area (e.g.,several kilometers in radius) and may allow unrestricted access by theUEs 115 with service subscriptions with the network provider supportingthe macro cell. A small cell may be associated with a lower-powered basestation 105, as compared with a macro cell, and a small cell may operatein the same or different (e.g., licensed, unlicensed) frequency bands asmacro cells. Small cells may provide unrestricted access to the UEs 115with service subscriptions with the network provider or may providerestricted access to the UEs 115 having an association with the smallcell (e.g., the UEs 115 in a closed subscriber group (CSG), the UEs 115associated with users in a home or office). A base station 105 maysupport one or multiple cells and may also support communications overthe one or more cells using one or multiple component carriers.

In some examples, a carrier may support multiple cells, and differentcells may be configured according to different protocol types (e.g.,MTC, narrowband IoT (NB-IoT), enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB)) that mayprovide access for different types of devices.

In some examples, a base station 105 may be movable and thereforeprovide communication coverage for a moving geographic coverage area110. In some examples, different geographic coverage areas 110associated with different technologies may overlap, but the differentgeographic coverage areas 110 may be supported by the same base station105. In other examples, the overlapping geographic coverage areas 110associated with different technologies may be supported by differentbase stations 105. The wireless communications system 100 may include,for example, a heterogeneous network in which different types of thebase stations 105 provide coverage for various geographic coverage areas110 using the same or different radio access technologies.

The wireless communications system 100 may support synchronous orasynchronous operation. For synchronous operation, the base stations 105may have similar frame timings, and transmissions from different basestations 105 may be approximately aligned in time. For asynchronousoperation, the base stations 105 may have different frame timings, andtransmissions from different base stations 105 may, in some examples,not be aligned in time. The techniques described herein may be used foreither synchronous or asynchronous operations.

Some UEs 115, such as MTC or IoT devices, may be low cost or lowcomplexity devices and may provide for automated communication betweenmachines (e.g., via Machine-to-Machine (M2M) communication). M2Mcommunication or MTC may refer to data communication technologies thatallow devices to communicate with one another or a base station 105without human intervention. In some examples, M2M communication or MTCmay include communications from devices that integrate sensors or metersto measure or capture information and relay such information to acentral server or application program that makes use of the informationor presents the information to humans interacting with the applicationprogram. Some UEs 115 may be designed to collect information or enableautomated behavior of machines or other devices. Examples ofapplications for MTC devices include smart metering, inventorymonitoring, water level monitoring, equipment monitoring, healthcaremonitoring, wildlife monitoring, weather and geological eventmonitoring, fleet management and tracking, remote security sensing,physical access control, and transaction-based business charging.

Some UEs 115 may be configured to employ operating modes that reducepower consumption, such as half-duplex communications (e.g., a mode thatsupports one-way communication via transmission or reception, but nottransmission and reception simultaneously). In some examples,half-duplex communications may be performed at a reduced peak rate.Other power conservation techniques for the UEs 115 include entering apower saving deep sleep mode when not engaging in active communications,operating over a limited bandwidth (e.g., according to narrowbandcommunications), or a combination of these techniques. For example, someUEs 115 may be configured for operation using a narrowband protocol typethat is associated with a defined portion or range (e.g., set ofsubcarriers or resource blocks (RBs)) within a carrier, within aguard-band of a carrier, or outside of a carrier.

The wireless communications system 100 may be configured to supportultra-reliable communications or low-latency communications, or variouscombinations thereof. For example, the wireless communications system100 may be configured to support ultra-reliable low-latencycommunications (URLLC) or mission critical communications. The UEs 115may be designed to support ultra-reliable, low-latency, or criticalfunctions (e.g., mission critical functions). Ultra-reliablecommunications may include private communication or group communicationand may be supported by one or more mission critical services such asmission critical push-to-talk (MCPTT), mission critical video (MCVideo),or mission critical data (MCData). Support for mission criticalfunctions may include prioritization of services, and mission criticalservices may be used for public safety or general commercialapplications. The terms ultra-reliable, low-latency, mission critical,and ultra-reliable low-latency may be used interchangeably herein.

In some examples, a UE 115 may also be able to communicate directly withother UEs 115 over a device-to-device (D2D) communication link 135(e.g., using a peer-to-peer (P2P) or D2D protocol). One or more UEs 115utilizing D2D communications may be within the geographic coverage area110 of a base station 105. Other UEs 115 in such a group may be outsidethe geographic coverage area 110 of a base station 105 or be otherwiseunable to receive transmissions from a base station 105. In someexamples, groups of the UEs 115 communicating via D2D communications mayutilize a one-to-many (1:M) system in which each UE 115 transmits toevery other UE 115 in the group. In some examples, a base station 105facilitates the scheduling of resources for D2D communications. In othercases, D2D communications are carried out between the UEs 115 withoutthe involvement of a base station 105.

In some systems, the D2D communication link 135 may be an example of acommunication channel, such as a sidelink communication channel, betweenvehicles (e.g., UEs 115). In some examples, vehicles may communicateusing vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communications, vehicle-to-vehicle(V2V) communications, or some combination of these. A vehicle may signalinformation related to traffic conditions, signal scheduling, weather,safety, emergencies, or any other information relevant to a V2X system.In some examples, vehicles in a V2X system may communicate with roadsideinfrastructure, such as roadside units, or with the network via one ormore network nodes (e.g., base stations 105) using vehicle-to-network(V2N) communications, or with both.

The core network 130 may provide user authentication, accessauthorization, tracking, Internet Protocol (IP) connectivity, and otheraccess, routing, or mobility functions. The core network 130 may be anevolved packet core (EPC) or 5G core (5GC), which may include at leastone control plane entity that manages access and mobility (e.g., amobility management entity (MME), an access and mobility managementfunction (AMF)) and at least one user plane entity that routes packetsor interconnects to external networks (e.g., a serving gateway (S-GW), aPacket Data Network (PDN) gateway (P-GW), or a user plane function(UPF)). The control plane entity may manage non-access stratum (NAS)functions such as mobility, authentication, and bearer management forthe UEs 115 served by the base stations 105 associated with the corenetwork 130. User IP packets may be transferred through the user planeentity, which may provide IP address allocation as well as otherfunctions. The user plane entity may be connected to IP services 150 forone or more network operators. The IP services 150 may include access tothe Internet, Intranet(s), an IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS), or aPacket-Switched Streaming Service.

Some of the network devices, such as a base station 105, may includesubcomponents such as an access network entity 140, which may be anexample of an access node controller (ANC). Each access network entity140 may communicate with the UEs 115 through one or more other accessnetwork transmission entities 145, which may be referred to as radioheads, smart radio heads, or transmission/reception points (TRPs). Eachaccess network transmission entity 145 may include one or more antennapanels. In some configurations, various functions of each access networkentity 140 or base station 105 may be distributed across various networkdevices (e.g., radio heads and ANCs) or consolidated into a singlenetwork device (e.g., a base station 105).

The wireless communications system 100 may operate using one or morefrequency bands, typically in the range of 300 megahertz (MHz) to 300gigahertz (GHz). Generally, the region from 300 MHz to 3 GHz is known asthe ultra-high frequency (UHF) region or decimeter band because thewavelengths range from approximately one decimeter to one meter inlength. The UHF waves may be blocked or redirected by buildings andenvironmental features, but the waves may penetrate structuressufficiently for a macro cell to provide service to the UEs 115 locatedindoors. The transmission of UHF waves may be associated with smallerantennas and shorter ranges (e.g., less than 100 kilometers) compared totransmission using the smaller frequencies and longer waves of the highfrequency (HF) or very high frequency (VHF) portion of the spectrumbelow 300 MHz.

The wireless communications system 100 may also operate in a super highfrequency (SHF) region using frequency bands from 3 GHz to 30 GHz, alsoknown as the centimeter band, or in an extremely high frequency (EHF)region of the spectrum (e.g., from 30 GHz to 300 GHz), also known as themillimeter band. In some examples, the wireless communications system100 may support millimeter wave (mmW) communications between the UEs 115and the base stations 105, and EHF antennas of the respective devicesmay be smaller and more closely spaced than UHF antennas. In someexamples, this may facilitate use of antenna arrays within a device. Thepropagation of EHF transmissions, however, may be subject to evengreater atmospheric attenuation and shorter range than SHF or UHFtransmissions. The techniques disclosed herein may be employed acrosstransmissions that use one or more different frequency regions, anddesignated use of bands across these frequency regions may differ bycountry or regulating body.

The wireless communications system 100 may utilize both licensed andunlicensed radio frequency spectrum bands. For example, the wirelesscommunications system 100 may employ License Assisted Access (LAA),LTE-Unlicensed (LTE-U) radio access technology, or NR technology in anunlicensed band such as the 5 GHz industrial, scientific, and medical(ISM) band. When operating in unlicensed radio frequency spectrum bands,devices such as the base stations 105 and the UEs 115 may employ carriersensing for collision detection and avoidance. In some examples,operations in unlicensed bands may be based on a carrier aggregationconfiguration in conjunction with component carriers operating in alicensed band (e.g., LAA). Operations in unlicensed spectrum may includedownlink transmissions, uplink transmissions, P2P transmissions, or D2Dtransmissions, among other examples.

A base station 105 or a UE 115 may be equipped with multiple antennas,which may be used to employ techniques such as transmit diversity,receive diversity, multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) communications,or beamforming. The antennas of a base station 105 or a UE 115 may belocated within one or more antenna arrays or antenna panels, which maysupport MIMO operations or transmit or receive beamforming. For example,one or more base station antennas or antenna arrays may be co-located atan antenna assembly, such as an antenna tower. In some examples,antennas or antenna arrays associated with a base station 105 may belocated in diverse geographic locations. A base station 105 may have anantenna array with a number of rows and columns of antenna ports thatthe base station 105 may use to support beamforming of communicationswith a UE 115. Likewise, a UE 115 may have one or more antenna arraysthat may support various MIMO or beamforming operations. Additionally oralternatively, an antenna panel may support radio frequency beamformingfor a signal transmitted via an antenna port.

The base stations 105 or the UEs 115 may use MIMO communications toexploit multipath signal propagation and increase the spectralefficiency by transmitting or receiving multiple signals via differentspatial layers. Such techniques may be referred to as spatialmultiplexing. The multiple signals may, for example, be transmitted bythe transmitting device via different antennas or different combinationsof antennas. Likewise, the multiple signals may be received by thereceiving device via different antennas or different combinations ofantennas. Each of the multiple signals may be referred to as a separatespatial stream and may carry bits associated with the same data stream(e.g., the same codeword) or different data streams (e.g., differentcodewords). Different spatial layers may be associated with differentantenna ports used for channel measurement and reporting. MIMOtechniques include single-user MIMO (SU-MIMO), where multiple spatiallayers are transmitted to the same receiving device, and multiple-userMIMO (MU-MIMO), where multiple spatial layers are transmitted tomultiple devices.

Beamforming, which may also be referred to as spatial filtering,directional transmission, or directional reception, is a signalprocessing technique that may be used at a transmitting device or areceiving device (e.g., a base station 105, a UE 115) to shape or steeran antenna beam (e.g., a transmit beam, a receive beam) along a spatialpath between the transmitting device and the receiving device.Beamforming may be achieved by combining the signals communicated viaantenna elements of an antenna array such that some signals propagatingat particular orientations with respect to an antenna array experienceconstructive interference while others experience destructiveinterference. The adjustment of signals communicated via the antennaelements may include a transmitting device or a receiving deviceapplying amplitude offsets, phase offsets, or both to signals carriedvia the antenna elements associated with the device. The adjustmentsassociated with each of the antenna elements may be defined by abeamforming weight set associated with a particular orientation (e.g.,with respect to the antenna array of the transmitting device orreceiving device, or with respect to some other orientation).

A base station 105 or a UE 115 may use beam sweeping techniques as partof beam forming operations. For example, a base station 105 may usemultiple antennas or antenna arrays (e.g., antenna panels) to conductbeamforming operations for directional communications with a UE 115.Some signals (e.g., synchronization signals, reference signals, beamselection signals, or other control signals) may be transmitted by abase station 105 multiple times in different directions. For example,the base station 105 may transmit a signal according to differentbeamforming weight sets associated with different directions oftransmission. Transmissions in different beam directions may be used toidentify (e.g., by a transmitting device, such as a base station 105, orby a receiving device, such as a UE 115) a beam direction for latertransmission or reception by the base station 105.

Some signals, such as data signals associated with a particularreceiving device, may be transmitted by a base station 105 in a singlebeam direction (e.g., a direction associated with the receiving device,such as a UE 115). In some examples, the beam direction associated withtransmissions along a single beam direction may be determined based on asignal that was transmitted in one or more beam directions. For example,a UE 115 may receive one or more of the signals transmitted by the basestation 105 in different directions and may report to the base station105 an indication of the signal that the UE 115 received with a highestsignal quality or an otherwise acceptable signal quality.

In some examples, transmissions by a device (e.g., by a base station 105or a UE 115) may be performed using multiple beam directions, and thedevice may use a combination of digital precoding or radio frequencybeamforming to generate a combined beam for transmission (e.g., from abase station 105 to a UE 115). The UE 115 may report feedback thatindicates precoding weights for one or more beam directions, and thefeedback may correspond to a configured number of beams across a systembandwidth or one or more sub-bands. The base station 105 may transmit areference signal (e.g., a cell-specific reference signal (CRS), achannel state information reference signal (CSI-RS)), which may beprecoded or unprecoded. The UE 115 may provide feedback for beamselection, which may be a precoding matrix indicator (PMI) orcodebook-based feedback (e.g., a multi-panel type codebook, a linearcombination type codebook, a port selection type codebook). Althoughthese techniques are described with reference to signals transmitted inone or more directions by a base station 105, a UE 115 may employsimilar techniques for transmitting signals multiple times in differentdirections (e.g., for identifying a beam direction for subsequenttransmission or reception by the UE 115) or for transmitting a signal ina single direction (e.g., for transmitting data to a receiving device).

A receiving device (e.g., a UE 115) may try multiple receiveconfigurations (e.g., directional listening) when receiving varioussignals from the base station 105, such as synchronization signals,reference signals, beam selection signals, or other control signals. Forexample, a receiving device may try multiple receive directions byreceiving via different antenna subarrays, by processing receivedsignals according to different antenna subarrays, by receiving accordingto different receive beamforming weight sets (e.g., differentdirectional listening weight sets) applied to signals received atmultiple antenna elements of an antenna array, or by processing receivedsignals according to different receive beamforming weight sets appliedto signals received at multiple antenna elements of an antenna array,any of which may be referred to as “listening” according to differentreceive configurations or receive directions. In some examples, areceiving device may use a single receive configuration to receive alonga single beam direction (e.g., when receiving a data signal). The singlereceive configuration may be aligned in a beam direction determinedbased on listening according to different receive configurationdirections (e.g., a beam direction determined to have a highest signalstrength, highest signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), or otherwise acceptablesignal quality based on listening according to multiple beamdirections).

The wireless communications system 100 may be a packet-based networkthat operates according to a layered protocol stack. In the user plane,communications at the bearer or Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP)layer may be IP-based. A Radio Link Control (RLC) layer may performpacket segmentation and reassembly to communicate over logical channels.A Medium Access Control (MAC) layer may perform priority handling andmultiplexing of logical channels into transport channels. The MAC layermay also use error detection techniques, error correction techniques, orboth to support retransmissions at the MAC layer to improve linkefficiency. In the control plane, the Radio Resource Control (RRC)protocol layer may provide establishment, configuration, and maintenanceof an RRC connection between a UE 115 and a base station 105 or a corenetwork 130 supporting radio bearers for user plane data. At thephysical layer, transport channels may be mapped to physical channels.

The UEs 115 and the base stations 105 may support retransmissions ofdata to increase the likelihood that data is received successfully.Hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) feedback is one technique forincreasing the likelihood that data is received correctly over acommunication link 125. HARQ may include a combination of errordetection (e.g., using a cyclic redundancy check (CRC)), forward errorcorrection (FEC), and retransmission (e.g., automatic repeat request(ARQ)). HARQ may improve throughput at the MAC layer in poor radioconditions (e.g., low signal-to-noise conditions). In some examples, adevice may support same-slot HARQ feedback, where the device may provideHARQ feedback in a specific slot for data received in a previous symbolin the slot. In other cases, the device may provide HARQ feedback in asubsequent slot, or according to some other time interval.

A UE 115 may perform a random access procedure with a base station 105to establish a communication link 125 and synchronize with the network.The UE 115 may transmit one or more uplink random access messages to thebase station 105 during the random access procedure. For example, the UE115 may transmit a random access preamble (e.g., Msg 1) and a subsequentrandom access message (e.g., Msg 3) via a physical uplink shared channel(PUSCH), or some other uplink channel. In the example of a two-steprandom access procedure, the UE 115 may transmit one random accessmessage, which may include a preamble and a payload (e.g., Msg A). TheUE 115 may receive an SSB from the base station 105 prior to the randomaccess procedure, and the UE 115 may use a same spatial domaintransmission filter (e.g., transmit beam) used for receipt of thecorresponding SSB (e.g., a reception beam) for transmission of theuplink random access message(s). In some examples, a set of rules andconfigurations may define a mapping (e.g., a one-to-one mapping) betweenSSBs and random access occasions (e.g., random access channel (RACH)occasions).

After a connection is established between the UE 115 and the basestation 105, the base station 105 may schedule one or more uplinktransmissions by the UE 115 (e.g., via control signaling such as RRCsignaling, a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE), ordownlink control information (DCI)). The base station 105 may configurethe UE 115 with an uplink beam to use for the uplink transmissions(e.g., SRS, PUSCH, or PUCCH transmissions) by referring, in the controlsignaling scheduling the transmission, to a reference signal previouslyreceived or transmitted by the UE 115. In one example, the base station105 may transmit RRC signaling or a MAC-CE that configures a spatialrelation IE that refers to an SSB index or a CSI-RS resource ID (e.g.,PUCCH-SpatialRelationInfo). The UE 115 may receive the IE and transmitthe scheduled target SRS resource or other uplink signal using the samespatial domain transmission filter used for the reception of theindicated CSI-RS or SSB (e.g., a physical broadcast channel (PBCH)block). Additionally or alternatively, the base station 105 may transmita spatial relation IE that points to an SRS resource ID (e.g.,SRS-SpatialRelationInfo). The UE 115 may receive the IE and transmit thetarget SRS resource or other uplink signal using the same spatial domaintransmission filter used for the transmission of the indicated SRS(e.g., a reference periodic SRS that was previously transmitted by theUE 115). In some examples, the base station 105 may schedule thetransmission of the uplink signal via DCI, and the DCI may indicate anID of the random access message for the spatial relation IE included inthe RRC signal or MAC-CE. The base station 105 may additionally oralternatively transmit a TCI state (e.g., instead of a spatial relationIE) to the UE 115. The TCI state may point to a downlink referencesignal such as an SSB or a CSI-RS or an uplink reference signal such asan SRS. The TCI state may be configured as an uplink TCI state or ajoint downlink and uplink TCI state.

In some examples, the wireless communications system 100 may include oneor more uplink nodes 155. The uplink nodes 155 may represent uplinkreceive points that are configured for reception of uplink transmissionsfrom UEs 115 (e.g., via a communication link 125), but may not beconfigured for transmission of downlink transmissions to the UEs 115.The uplink nodes 155 may communicate or forward received uplinktransmissions to an associated base station 105, such as via a backhaullink 120. The base station 105 may represent an example of a macro node(e.g., a central node or a serving cell). The deployment of the uplinknodes 155 may be referred to as an uplink dense deployment. In somecases, a UE 115 and a base station 105 may communicate in the uplink viaan SUL carrier. In cases where the UE 115 communicates with the basestation 105 in the uplink via an uplink node 155 or via an SUL carrier,uplink transmit and receive beams for the SUL carrier or the uplink node155 may not be associated with any corresponding downlink beams (e.g.,beam correspondence may not be assumed).

The base station 105 may not point to a downlink reference signal, suchas an SSB or CSI-RS to indicate an uplink beam for the UE 115 to use ifbeam correspondence between the uplink and the downlink cannot beassumed, because the uplink and downlink beams may not correspond toeach other in these communication scenarios. Instead, the base station105 may point to previously transmitted uplink signals. However, in somecases, such as during early initial access (e.g., during a random accessprocedure or shortly after a random access procedure is performed), theUE 115 may not have transmitted some uplink signals yet, such as SRSs.Accordingly, it may be beneficial for the base station 105 to point toother uplink signals, messages, or channels, such as random accessmessages. Some signaling, such as some spatial relation IEs, may not beconfigured to indicate other uplink messages (e.g., random accessmessages) as references for transmit beam identification.

As described herein, the base station 105 may transmit a spatialrelation configuration to the UE 115 to indicate that transmission of ascheduled uplink signal may be via a transmit beam used in transmittinga random access message. In other words, the base station 105 mayindicate an uplink message as a reference for transmit beamidentification. In some examples, the spatial relation configuration maybe transmitted via a spatial relation IE that includes a field foridentifying a random access message. The UE 115 may receive the spatialrelation configuration and determine to transmit the correspondinguplink signal using the same spatial domain transmission filter (e.g.,transmit beam) used for transmitting the identified random accessmessage. The spatial relation IE may indicate a RACH occasion, a RACHrepetition number, a segment of a RACH occasion, a PUSCH repetition of arandom access message, a reference signal used by the UE 115 during therandom access procedure, or any other uplink signal or channeltransmitted during a random access procedure. In some examples, the UE115 may use the indicated transmit beam for one or more subsequentuplink transmissions (e.g., until the base station 105 configures otherspatial relation information for the UE 115). As such, the UE 115 andthe base station 105 may perform uplink beam management during earlyinitial access based on one or more uplink random access messages.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a wireless communications system 200that supports spatial relation information based on random accessmessages in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. In someexamples, the wireless communications system 200 may implement someaspects of wireless communications system 100. For example, wirelesscommunications system 200 may include a UE 115-a and a base station105-a, which may be examples of the corresponding devices as describedwith reference to FIG. 1. In some cases, the wireless communicationssystem 200 may also include one or more uplink nodes 220, which may beexamples of an uplink node 155 described with reference to FIG. 1.

As described with reference to FIG. 1, the UE 115-a and the base station105-a may communicate using one or more beams 210 (e.g., communicationbeams 210, shaped using beamforming techniques). For example, for uplinkcommunications, the UE 115-a may use a transmit beam 210 (e.g., anuplink transmit beam 210) for transmitting the uplink transmissions 215including information or data to the base station 105-a, and the basestation 105-a may use a receive beam 210 (e.g., an uplink receive beam210) to receive the transmitted information or data.

In some cases, the UE 115-a and the base station 105-a may communicatein the uplink via one or more uplink nodes 220 (e.g., in an uplink densedeployment scenario). In such cases, the UE 115-a may transmit uplinktransmissions 215, such as uplink signals and/or channels, to an uplinkreceive point, which may be represented by an uplink node 220 (e.g., theuplink node 220-a). The uplink nodes 220 may be connected to the basestation 105-a (e.g., a macro node) via backhaul links 225 (e.g., wiredor wireless links, which may be examples of a backhaul link 120described with reference to FIG. 1), such that one or more uplink nodes220 may receive the uplink transmissions 215 from the UE 115-a andforward associated uplink data or uplink information to the base station105-a (e.g., transmit an indication of the uplink data or information,such as via the backhaul link 225). Downlink signals and/or channels maybe transmitted to the UE 115-a from the base station 105-a (e.g., amacro node, serving cell, serving base station 105), which may representa different communication node (e.g., at a different location) than anyuplink nodes 220 used for uplink communications.

The uplink dense deployment scenario as described herein may improvecoverage and/or capacity. For example, using one or more uplink nodes220 for communications between the UE 115-a and the base station 105-amay reduce uplink pathloss (e.g., among other examples). The reductionin pathloss may increase uplink communication speed and throughput,which may in turn reduce a bottlenecking effect for the uplinkcommunications (e.g., as compared to downlink communications).Additionally or alternatively, uplink dense deployment may reducedeployment cost and/or complexity for network entities (e.g., for theuplink nodes 220), while increasing coverage, because the uplink nodes220 may not be configured to transmit downlink signals or performconfigurations. For example, each uplink node 220 may be configured toreceive uplink signals (e.g., from the UE 115-a) and send the uplinksignals to the base station 105-a (e.g., with or without someprocessing).

In some examples, the UE 115-a may be configured with two or more uplinkcarriers and a single downlink carrier for a same serving cell (e.g.,for communications with the base station 105-a within the geographiccoverage area 110-a). That is, the UE 115-a may be configured with asupplementary uplink (SUL) carrier and a non-SUL or normal uplink (NUL)carrier for communications with the base station 105-a. The UE 115-a maytransmit the uplink transmissions 215 via the SUL carrier, the non-SULcarrier, or both. The uplink transmissions 215 on the SUL carrier maynot be simultaneous with the uplink transmissions 215 on the non-SULcarrier by the UE 115-a. In one example, the UE 115-a may be configuredwith a TDD band (e.g., TDD uplink carrier) and a SUL carrier, such thatthe UE 115-a may transmit the uplink transmissions 215 on either the TDDband (e.g., non-SUL or NUL carrier) or on the SUL carrier. The SULcarrier or the non-SUL carrier may convey uplink messages to an uplinknode 220, to the base station 105-a, or some other node. That is, anuplink beam used for transmission of one or more of the uplinktransmissions 215 may or may not be in the same direction as a receivebeam used for reception of a downlink message from the base station105-a.

In cases where the UE 115-a communicates with the base station 105-a inthe uplink via an uplink node 220 (e.g., the uplink node 220-a), uplinktransmit and receive beams 210 may be associated with the uplink node220 (e.g., and not with the base station 105-a). Similarly, in caseswhere the UE 115-a communicates with the base station 105-a using an SULcarrier, uplink transmit and receive beams 210 for the SUL carrier maynot be associated with any corresponding beams 210 for the associateddownlink carrier. As such, when the UE 115-a communicates in the uplinkvia an uplink node 220, or via an SUL carrier, a beam correspondence maynot exist between downlink and uplink beams 210 (e.g., for use in uplinkbeam management). A downlink reference signal (e.g., CSI-RS and/or SSB)may therefore not be used to indicate an uplink beam 210 (e.g., viaspatial relation information), for example, because the uplink anddownlink beams 210 may not correspond to each other in thesecommunication scenarios.

In some cases, if there is not correspondence between the uplink anddownlink beams 210, the UE 115-a may transmit one or more SRSs (e.g.,SRSs for beam management) to perform uplink beam management. The UE115-a may transmit different SRS resources using a set of differenttransmit beams 210, such as the transmit beams 210-a, 210-b, and 210-c(e.g., the UE 115-a may select the transmit beams 210). The base station105-a may receive the SRSs and select, from the set of transmit beams210, an uplink receive beam 210 that is preferred by the base station105-a. The base station 105-a may indicate the selected beam 210 to theUE 115-a. However, the UE 115-a may not perform uplink beam managementusing SRSs if the UE 115-a is not in an RRC connected state, such asduring early initial access (e.g., during a random access procedure).For example, during initial access, the UE 115-a may not havetransmitted SRSs or other uplink signals yet for the base station 105-ato reference for transmit beam identification.

In some cases, uplink beam management during a random access procedure,initial access, or both, may be performed by the UE 115-a, or the basestation 105-a, or both. In one example, the UE 115-a may perform PRACHrepetition (e.g., repetition of Msg1 or MsgA-preamble) using differentuplink spatial filters across multiple RACH occasions to identify atransmit beam 210. In another example, the UE 115-a may perform uplinkbeam sweeping within a RACH occasion, where the RACH occasion is dividedinto two or more segments (e.g., a RACH format spanning M symbols may bedivided into a first segment of N symbols and a second segment of Nsymbols). The UE 115-a may use a different transmit beam 210 to transmiteach respective segment of the RACH occasion. Additionally oralternatively, the UE 115-a may perform PUSCH repetition (e.g.,repetition of Msg3 or MsgA-payload) using a different spatial filter foreach repetition. In each example, the selection of the transmit beam(s)210 may be up to the UE 115-a. The base station 105-a may performreceive beam sweeping to adjust an uplink receive beam 210, and thetransmit beam 210 may be selected accordingly. However, signaling toindicate the transmit beam 210 that is preferred by the base station105-a may not be defined. Some control signaling, such as some spatialrelation IEs, may not be configured to indicate other uplinktransmissions 215 (e.g., uplink messages different than SRSs or otheruplink reference signals), such as random access messages for transmitbeam identification.

As described herein, the base station 105-a may indicate a random accessmessage for transmit beam identification (e.g., during early initialaccess). That is, the base station 105-a may transmit a control signal205 that includes a spatial relation configuration for the UE 115-a, andthe spatial relation configuration may point to a transmit beam 210 usedfor transmission of a random access preamble, a RACH, a RACH occasion, areference signal used by the UE 115-a during a random access procedure,or any other random access message. The spatial relation IE may includea field to convey an ID of the random access message. In some examples,the control signal 205 may schedule an uplink transmission 215 by the UE115-a. For example, the base station 105-a may transmit an RRC signal, aMAC-CE, DCI, or some other control signal 205 to trigger an uplinktransmission 215 by the UE 115-a using the indicated transmit beam 210.If the control signal 205 is an RRC signal or a MAC-CE, the controlsignal 205 may configure the spatial relation IE to refer to an ID ofthe previously transmitted random access message. If the control signal205 is DCI, the control signal 205 may point to an ID of the randomaccess message for the spatial relation IE.

Accordingly, the control signal 205 may indicate that the UE 115-a is totransmit the uplink signal via a transmit beam 210 used in transmittingthe random access message. The random access message indicated in thespatial relation IE may be an example of a random access preamble, aPUSCH signal, a reference signal used by the UE 115-a during the randomaccess procedure (e.g., a DMRS), or some other random access message.The UE 115-a may select the transmit beam 210 used for transmission ofthe indicated random access message to transmit one or more scheduleduplink signals, such as SRSs, PUCCH transmissions, DG or CG PUSCHtransmissions, PRACH transmissions (e.g., a subsequent PRACH messagetransmitted by the UE 115-a in an RRC connected state), or anycombination thereof.

The spatial relation information IE as described herein (e.g.,SpatialRelationInfo) may convey a spatial relation information ID (e.g.,a SpatialRelationInfold parameter), a serving cell index (e.g., aServingCellId parameter), a reference signal indicated by the spatialrelation information (e.g., one or more referenceSignal parameters), orany combination thereof. The reference signal field may indicate anindex or ID of a reference signal previously transmitted or received bythe UE 115-a. For example, the reference signal field may indicate oneof an SSB index, a CSI-RS index, an SRS resource ID, or any combinationthereof. As described herein, the reference signal field mayadditionally or alternatively indicate an ID of a random access message(e.g., a random-access parameter than may indicate a RACH, PUSCH,reference signal, or other random access message). Accordingly, in someexamples, the reference signal field of a spatial relation IE may coveya choice between: ssb-Index, CSI-RS-Index, srs, and random-accessparameters.

A UE 115 and a base station 105 may thereby perform uplink beammanagement during a random access procedure, early initial access, orboth, which may reduce latency, improve reliability of thecommunications, and improve coordination between devices. The basestation 105 may transmit a control signal 205 to the UE 115 to indicatean ID of a random access message for transmit beam identification, andthe UE 115 may be configured to transmit an uplink signal using a sametransmit beam 210 used for transmission of the indicated random accessmessage in response to the control signal.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example of a transmit beam selection timeline 300that supports spatial relation information based on random accessmessages in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. Thetransmit beam selection timeline 300 may implement or be implemented bysome aspects of the wireless communications systems 100 or 200. Forexample, the transmit beam selection timeline 300 may illustrate anexample timeline for uplink beam management during initial accessperformed by a UE 115 and a base station 105, which may representexamples of a UE 115 and a base station 105 as described with referenceto FIGS. 1 and 2. The UE 115 may receive a spatial relationconfiguration 310 for transmission, by the UE 115, of an uplink signal315. In some examples, the spatial relation configuration 310 mayindicate that transmission of the uplink signal 315 is via a transmitbeam used in transmitting a random access message 305.

The UE 115 and the base station 105 may perform a random accessprocedure 320, as described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. During therandom access procedure 320, the UE 115 may transmit and receive one ormore random access messages 305 (e.g., the random access messages 305-a,305-b, 305-c, and 305-d). The random access messages 305 transmitted bythe UE 115 may include a random access preamble message (e.g., Msg1transmitted via a PRACH), a PUSCH message (e.g., Msg3), a referencesignal used by the UE 115 during the random access procedure (e.g., aDMRS), or other uplink random access messages 305. In the example of atwo-step random access procedure, the UE 115 may transmit a randomaccess preamble and payload in a single random access message 305 (e.g.,MsgA). The UE 115 may additionally or alternatively receive one or moredownlink random access messages 305 from the base station 105, such as arandom access response message (e.g., Msg2, Msg4, or MsgB).

Each random access message 305 may be identified by a respective ID. Forexample, the random access message 305-a may be identified by the ID=1.In some examples, a portion of the random access message 305 or anotheruplink signal may be identified, such as a RACH occasion (e.g., if therandom access message 305 is transmitted during one or more RACHoccasions), a repetition number corresponding to a random accessrepetition message, a segment of a RACH occasion (e.g., if the randomaccess message 305 is transmitted via one or more segments of the RACHoccasion), a PUSCH repetition (e.g., if the random access message 305includes multiple PUSCH repetitions), a channel used for transmission ofthe random access message 305, a reference signal transmitted duringrandom access, or any combination thereof.

As described with reference to FIG. 2, the UE 115 and the base station105 may perform uplink beam management during the random accessprocedure 320, during initial access, or both to select a transmit beamfor the UE 115 to use for transmission of one or more uplink signals315. The uplink beam management procedure may include transmit beamsweeping by the UE 115, receive beam sweeping by the base station 105,or both. As described herein, the UE 115 may perform transmit beamsweeping during the random access procedure 320. For example, the UE 115may transmit a random access message 305 (e.g., a preamble random accessmessage 305) during multiple RACH occasions, and the UE 115 may usedifferent uplink spatial filters for transmission of each RACH occasion.In another example, a random access message 305 (e.g., a preamble randomaccess message) may include multiple random access repetition messagesacross multiple RACH occasions (e.g., Msg1 or MsgA-preamble repetitionvia RACH resources). In some examples, the UE 115 may perform uplinkbeam sweeping during transmission of a random access message 305 withina single RACH occasion. The RACH occasion may be divided into multiplesegments, and the UE 115 may use a different transmit beam fortransmission of each segment. In another example, the UE 115 maytransmit a random access message 305 via a PUSCH, and the random accessmessage 305 may include a set of PUSCH repetitions of the random accessmessage 305. Each PUSCH repetition may be transmitted using a differentspatial filter (e.g., Msg3 or MsgA-payload repetition via PUSCHresources). In each example, the base station 105 may perform receivebeam sweeping to adjust a receive beam. A transmit beam for transmissionof a subsequent uplink signal 315 may be selected accordingly.

As described herein, the base station 105 may transmit a control signalthat includes the spatial relation configuration 310 for transmission,by the UE 115, of the uplink signal 315. The spatial relationconfiguration 310 may indicate that transmission of the uplink signal315 is via a transmit beam used in transmitting a random access message305. That is, the spatial relation configuration 310 may refer to aselected transmit beam (e.g., a spatial domain transmission filter thatis preferred by the base station 105) after performing uplink beammanagement during the random access procedure 320. The control signalmay be an RRC signal or a MAC-CE that configures the spatial relationconfiguration 310 as a spatial relation IE. The spatial relation IE mayinclude a field configured to refer to an ID of one of the random accessmessages 305 previously transmitted by the UE 115. Additionally oralternatively, the base station 105 may transmit a second control signalthat may be a DCI signal that schedules the uplink signal 315. The DCIsignal may indicate an ID of the random access message 305 for thespatial relation IE.

The spatial relation configuration 310 may indicate that transmission ofthe uplink signal 315 is via the transmit beam used in transmitting theidentified random access message 305. In the example of the transmitbeam selection timeline 300, the base station 105 may determine thetransmit beam used for transmission of the random access message 305-cis preferred over other transmit beams used by the UE 115 during therandom access procedure 320. The base station 105 may transmit thespatial relation configuration 310, another control signal, or both, toschedule the uplink signal 315 and to identify the random access message305-c (e.g., the spatial relation configuration 310 may indicate theID=3). The control signal may trigger transmission of the uplink signal315 by the UE 115. The UE 115 may identify the spatial relationconfiguration 310 (e.g., a spatial relation IE conveyed via the controlsignal) and the random access message 305-c indicated by the spatialrelation configuration 310. The UE 115 may transmit the uplink signal315 using the transmit beam used for transmission of the indicatedrandom access message 305-c in accordance with the spatial relationconfiguration 310.

In some examples, the UE 115 may transmit one or more of the randomaccess messages 305-a, 305-b, 305-c, and 305-d as a preamble randomaccess message 305 during each of a set of RACH occasions. The UE 115may use a different transmit beam for transmission of each RACHoccasion. In such cases, the spatial relation configuration 310 mayindicate one of the set of RACH occasions included in the transmissionof the random access message. The UE 115 may determine to transmit theuplink signal 315 using a same transmit beam as the transmit beam usedfor transmission of the identified RACH occasion. The UE 115 maytransmit the uplink signal 315 using a same transmit beam used fortransmission of the identified RACH occasion.

In some examples, the UE 115 may perform RACH repetition. That is, oneor more of the random access messages 305-a, 305-b, 305-c, and 305-dmay, in some examples, be transmitted as a preamble random accessmessage during a RACH occasion, and each random access message 305 mayinclude a set of random access repetition messages (e.g., a PRACHrepetition of a Msg1 or MsgA). The UE 115 may transmit each randomaccess repetition message using a different uplink spatial filter. Eachrandom access message may correspond to a respective random accessrepetition number. In such cases, the spatial relation configuration 310may indicate to a repetition number of one of the random accessrepetition messages within the random access message 305. In someexamples, the control signal may point to the random access message 305,and the spatial relation IE or a second control signal may indicate therandom access repetition number. The UE 115 may transmit the uplinksignal 315 using the same transmit beam used for transmission of theidentified random access repetition message.

In some examples, the base station 105 may not explicitly indicate theRACH occasion or repetition number via the spatial relationconfiguration 310. Instead, the base station 105 may indicate the RACHoccasion or repetition number via a corresponding random access (RA)radio network temporary identifier (RNTI) (e.g., an implicitindication). In such cases, the control signal, the spatial relationconfiguration 310, or both, may indicate the RA-RNTI to the UE 115, andthe UE 115 may use the indicated RA-RNTI to identify the correspondingRACH occasion or random access repetition number. The RA-RNTI maycorrespond to a random access message 305 that is received by the UE 115(e.g., Msg2). A calculation for the RA-RNTI may indicate the RACHoccasion and the repetition number. For example, the UE 115 may identifythe RACH occasion or the repetition number based on Equation 1 for theRA-RNTI. In some examples, such as during a two-step random accessprocedure 320, the UE 115 may use a MSGB-RNTI, and the UE 115 mayidentify the RACH occasion or the repetition number based on Equation 2for the MSGB-RNTI.

RA-RNTI=1+s_id+14×t_id+14×80×f_id+14×80×8×ul_carrier_id   Equation (1)

MSGB-RNTI=1+s_id+14×t_id+14×80×f_id+14×80×8×ul_carrier_id+14×80×8×2  Equation(2)

In the example of the Equations 1 and 2, the symbol s_id may indicate anindex of a first symbol of a PRACH occasion. The symbol t_id mayindicate an index of a first slot of the PRACH occasion in a systemframe. The symbol fid may indicate an index of the PRACH occasion in afrequency domain. The symbol ul_carrier_id may indicate an uplinkcarrier used for a random access preamble transmission (e.g., a preamblerandom access message 305). Accordingly, Equations 1 and 2 may representexamples of equations the UE 115 may use to identify the RACH occasionor a random access repetition number based on an indicated RNTI.

In some examples, the UE 115 may perform uplink beam sweeping within aRACH occasion. That is, the UE 115 may transmit a random access message305 via multiple segments of a RACH occasion, and the UE 115 may use adifferent transmit beam to transmit each segment. The spatial relationconfiguration 310 may point to a segment of the multiple segments of aRACH occasion. In some examples, the control signal may identify theRACH occasion or the random access message 305, and the spatial relationconfiguration 310 may indicate the selected segment. The UE 115 maytransmit the uplink signal 315 using a same transmit beam as a transmitbeam used to transmit the identified segment of the RACH occasion basedon the spatial relation configuration.

In some examples, the UE 115 may perform uplink beam sweeping acrossPUSCH repetitions of a random access message 305 (e.g., Msg3 orMsgA-payload repetitions). The UE 115 may transmit a random accessmessage 305 via an uplink channel (e.g., a PUSCH), and the random accessmessage may include a set of PUSCH repetitions of the random accessmessage 305. The UE 115 may use a different transmit beam fortransmission of each PUSCH repetition. The spatial relationconfiguration 310 may point to a PUSCH repetition of the set of PUSCHrepetitions. The UE 115 may transmit the uplink signal 315 (e.g., atarget uplink channel or reference signal) using a same transmit beam asthe transmit beam used for transmission of the identified PUSCHrepetition (e.g., and for transmission of a corresponding DMRS).

In some examples, the base station 105 may transmit the spatial relationconfiguration 310 during the random access procedure 320. For example,if the UE 115 performs uplink beam sweeping during transmission of afirst random access message 305 (e.g., Msg1), the base station 105 maytransmit the spatial relation configuration 310 to indicate the ID ofthe first random access message 305, a RACH occasion corresponding tothe first random access message 305, a RACH repetition number associatedwith the first random access message 305, a MsgB-RNTI indicating a RACHoccasion or repetition number associated with the first random accessmessage 305, or any combination thereof. The UE 115 may use the sametransmit beam used for transmission of the indicated random accessmessage 305 (e.g., or portion of the random access message 305) totransmit a subsequent random access message 305 (e.g., Msg3) during therandom access procedure 320.

A UE 115 and a base station 105 as described herein may thereby performuplink beam management and transmit beam identification during a randomaccess procedure 320, initial access, or both, according to the transmitbeam selection timeline 300 to reduce latency and improve coordinationbetween devices. The base station 105 may transmit the spatial relationconfiguration 310 to indicate that the UE 115 is to transmit an uplinksignal 315 using a same transmit beam as a transmit beam used for aprevious transmission of a random access message. Accordingly, the UE115 may transmit an uplink signal 315 during early initial access usinga transmit beam that is preferred by the base station 105, which mayimprove communication reliability and coordination between the UE 115and the base station 105.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example of a transmit beam selection timeline 400that supports spatial relation information based on random accessmessages in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. Thetransmit beam selection timeline 400 may implement or be implemented bysome aspects of the wireless communications systems 100 or 200 or thetransmit beam selection timeline 300. For example, the transmit beamselection timeline 400 may illustrate an example timeline for uplinkbeam management and transmit beam selection by a UE 115 and a basestation 105, which may represent examples of a UE 115 and a base station105 as described with reference to FIGS. 1-3. The UE 115 may receive oneor more spatial relation configurations 410 for transmission, by the UE115, of one or more corresponding uplink signals 415. In some examples,the spatial relation configuration 410 may indicate that transmission ofan uplink signal 415 is via a transmit beam used in transmitting arandom access message 405.

The transmit beam selection timeline 400 may represent an example of thetransmit beam selection timeline 300 as described with reference to FIG.3. For example, the transmit beam selection timeline 400 illustrates arandom access procedure 420 performed between a UE 115 and a basestation 105, which may be an example of the random access procedure 320described with respect to FIG. 3. During the random access procedure420, the UE 115 may receive, transmit, or both one or more random accessmessages 405 (e.g., the random access messages 405-a, 405-b, 405-c, and405-d). As described with reference to FIG. 3, the UE 115 may performuplink beam sweeping while transmitting the random access messages 405,and the base station 105 may perform receive beam sweeping to identify apreferred transmit beam.

In some cases, the selection of the transmit beam may occur during therandom access procedure 420. If the UE 115 performs uplink beam sweepingin a preamble random access message 405 (e.g., Msg1), the base station105 may indicate a selected transmit beam in a subsequent downlinkrandom access message 405 (e.g., Msg2), and the UE 115 may transmit arandom access message 405 via a PUSCH (e.g., Msg3) using the indicatedtransmit beam. In some examples, the downlink random access message 405may include CRC information scrambled by an RA-RNTI, and the RA-RNTI mayidentify a RACH occasion or repetition number corresponding to theselected transmit beam, as described with reference to FIG. 3. In suchcases, subsequent uplinks signals 415 transmitted after the randomaccess procedure 420 (e.g., SRSs, PUSCH signals, PUCCH signals, or thelike) that are not configured or indicated with spatial relationinformation may follow the transmit beam used for the latest uplinktransmission during initial access (e.g., the transmit beam used for theMsg3 PUSCH transmission).

In the example of the transmit beam selection timeline 400, the basestation 105 may transmit a control signal including the spatial relationconfiguration 410-a after the random access procedure 420. The spatialrelation configuration 410-a may indicate a selected transmit beam byconveying an ID of the corresponding random access message 405-b (e.g.,ID=2). The UE 115 may transmit the uplink signal 415-a using the sametransmit beam as the transmit beam used for transmission of the randomaccess message 405-b. In some examples, the UE 115 may transmit a set ofone or more other uplink signals 415 after performing the random accessprocedure 420 using the transmit beam indicated via the spatial relationconfiguration 410-a. The uplink signals 415 may include SRSs (e.g., SRSsnot configured for beam management), PUCCH signals, CG or DG PUSCHsignals, PRACH signals, or other uplink signals.

The UE 115 may transmit other uplink signals 415 after performing therandom access procedure 420 using the transmit beam indicated via thespatial relation configuration 410-a or using a transmit beam indicatedduring the random access procedure 420 (e.g., a latest indicatedtransmit beam) until the UE 115 receives an explicit spatial relationconfiguration for a subsequent set of target uplink channels orreference signals. In the example of the transmit beam selectiontimeline 400, the UE 115 may transmit one or more other uplink signalsusing the indicated transmit beam after transmitting the uplink signal415-a and before receiving the spatial relation configuration 410-b.

The UE 115 may receive an RRC configuration that may indicate a set ofuplink channels or reference signals that may be transmitted after therandom access procedure 420 using the most recent indicated transmitbeam before the spatial relation configuration 410-b is received.Additionally or alternatively, the set of uplink channels and referencesignals may be configured at the UE 115 (e.g., pre-defined uplinkchannels or reference signals). In one example, the set of uplinkchannels or reference signals may include PUSCH signals and PUCCCHsignals, and may not include SRSs. That is, the UE 115 may not transmitSRSs using the most recent indicated transmit beam until the UE 115receives the spatial relation configuration 410-b. In another example,the set of uplink channels and reference signals may include PUCCHsignals, PUSCH signals, and SRS resources that are not configured forbeam management (e.g., SRS resource not configured withusage=beamManagement). Use of the indicated transmit beam may not applyto SRSs that are configured for beam management because the UE 115 mayperform transmit beam sweeping while transmitting SRSs configured forbeam management.

The UE 115 may receive the spatial relation configuration 410-bindicating a spatial relation configuration for the uplink signal 415-band one or more other subsequent uplink signals 415 to be transmitted bythe UE 115. In some examples, the spatial relation configuration 410-bmay point to a random access message 405 for transmit beamidentification. Additionally or alternatively, the spatial relationconfiguration 410-b may point to other uplink signals, such as theuplink signal 415-a or other reference signals transmitted by the UE 115(e.g., SRSs for beam management). The UE 115 may use the spatialrelation configuration indicated via the spatial relation configuration410-b for subsequent uplink transmissions after early initial access.

Accordingly, a spatial relation configuration 410 as described hereinmay point to a random access message 305 transmitted by a UE 115 fortransmit beam identification. By using random access messages 305 fortransmit beam identification, the UE 115 and a base station 105 mayreduce latency and improve communication reliability for initial accessduring communication scenarios in which there may not be beamcorrespondence between an uplink and downlink.

FIG. 5 shows a block diagram 500 of a device 505 that supports spatialrelation information based on random access messages in accordance withaspects of the present disclosure. The device 505 may be an example ofaspects of a UE 115 as described herein. The device 505 may include areceiver 510, a transmitter 515, and a communications manager 520. Thedevice 505 may also include one or more processors, memory coupled withthe one or more processors, and instructions stored in the memory thatare executable by the one or more processors to enable the one or moreprocessors to perform the spatial relation features discussed herein.Each of these components may be in communication with one another (e.g.,via one or more buses).

The receiver 510 may provide a means for receiving information such aspackets, user data, control information, or any combination thereofassociated with various information channels (e.g., control channels,data channels, information channels related to spatial relationinformation based on random access messages). Information may be passedon to other components of the device 505. The receiver 510 may utilize asingle antenna or a set of multiple antennas.

The transmitter 515 may provide a means for transmitting signalsgenerated by other components of the device 505. For example, thetransmitter 515 may transmit information such as packets, user data,control information, or any combination thereof associated with variousinformation channels (e.g., control channels, data channels, informationchannels related to spatial relation information based on random accessmessages). In some examples, the transmitter 515 may be co-located witha receiver 510 in a transceiver module. The transmitter 515 may utilizea single antenna or a set of multiple antennas.

The communications manager 520, the receiver 510, the transmitter 515,or various combinations thereof or various components thereof may beexamples of means for performing various aspects of spatial relationinformation based on random access messages as described herein. Forexample, the communications manager 520, the receiver 510, thetransmitter 515, or various combinations or components thereof maysupport a method for performing one or more of the functions describedherein.

In some examples, the communications manager 520, the receiver 510, thetransmitter 515, or various combinations or components thereof may beimplemented in hardware (e.g., in communications management circuitry).The hardware may include a processor, a digital signal processor (DSP),an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field-programmablegate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, a discrete gate ortransistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combinationthereof configured as or otherwise supporting a means for performing thefunctions described in the present disclosure. In some examples, aprocessor and memory coupled with the processor may be configured toperform one or more of the functions described herein (e.g., byexecuting, by the processor, instructions stored in the memory).

Additionally or alternatively, in some examples, the communicationsmanager 520, the receiver 510, the transmitter 515, or variouscombinations or components thereof may be implemented in code (e.g., ascommunications management software or firmware) executed by a processor.If implemented in code executed by a processor, the functions of thecommunications manager 520, the receiver 510, the transmitter 515, orvarious combinations or components thereof may be performed by ageneral-purpose processor, a DSP, a central processing unit (CPU), anASIC, an FPGA, or any combination of these or other programmable logicdevices (e.g., configured as or otherwise supporting a means forperforming the functions described in the present disclosure).

In some examples, the communications manager 520 may be configured toperform various operations (e.g., receiving, monitoring, transmitting)using or otherwise in cooperation with the receiver 510, the transmitter515, or both. For example, the communications manager 520 may receiveinformation from the receiver 510, send information to the transmitter515, or be integrated in combination with the receiver 510, thetransmitter 515, or both to receive information, transmit information,or perform various other operations as described herein.

The communications manager 520 may support wireless communication at aUE in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. For example, thecommunications manager 520 may be configured as or otherwise support ameans for transmitting a random access message during a random accessprocedure between the UE and a base station. The communications manager520 may be configured as or otherwise support a means for receiving acontrol signal that includes a spatial relation configuration fortransmission, by the UE, of an uplink signal, the spatial relationconfiguration indicating that transmission of the uplink signal is via atransmit beam used in transmitting the random access message. Thecommunications manager 520 may be configured as or otherwise support ameans for transmitting the uplink signal using the transmit beam inaccordance with the spatial relation configuration.

By including or configuring the communications manager 520 in accordancewith examples as described herein, the device 505 (e.g., a processorcontrolling or otherwise coupled to the receiver 510, the transmitter515, the communications manager 520, or a combination thereof) maysupport techniques for reduced processing and more efficient utilizationof communication resources. The processor may receive and decode thespatial relation configuration received from a base station to identifya random access message and corresponding transmit beam. The processormay reduce processing by using the indicated transmit beam than if theprocessor selects a transmit beam without an indication from the basestation. The spatial relation configuration may thereby reduce latencyand processing. The processor of the device 505 may additionally oralternatively transmit subsequent uplink signals using the transmit beamindicated via the spatial relation configuration, which may provide forreduced processing and more efficient utilization of communicationresources.

FIG. 6 shows a block diagram 600 of a device 605 that supports spatialrelation information based on random access messages in accordance withaspects of the present disclosure. The device 605 may be an example ofaspects of a device 505 or a UE 115 as described herein. The device 605may include a receiver 610, a transmitter 615, and a communicationsmanager 620. The device 605 may also include a processor. Each of thesecomponents may be in communication with one another (e.g., via one ormore buses).

The receiver 610 may provide a means for receiving information such aspackets, user data, control information, or any combination thereofassociated with various information channels (e.g., control channels,data channels, information channels related to spatial relationinformation based on random access messages). Information may be passedon to other components of the device 605. The receiver 610 may utilize asingle antenna or a set of multiple antennas.

The transmitter 615 may provide a means for transmitting signalsgenerated by other components of the device 605. For example, thetransmitter 615 may transmit information such as packets, user data,control information, or any combination thereof associated with variousinformation channels (e.g., control channels, data channels, informationchannels related to spatial relation information based on random accessmessages). In some examples, the transmitter 615 may be co-located witha receiver 610 in a transceiver module. The transmitter 615 may utilizea single antenna or a set of multiple antennas.

The device 605, or various components thereof, may be an example ofmeans for performing various aspects of spatial relation informationbased on random access messages as described herein. For example, thecommunications manager 620 may include a random access component 625, acontrol signal reception component 630, an uplink signal transmissioncomponent 635, or any combination thereof. The communications manager620 may be an example of aspects of a communications manager 520 asdescribed herein. In some examples, the communications manager 620, orvarious components thereof, may be configured to perform variousoperations (e.g., receiving, monitoring, transmitting) using orotherwise in cooperation with the receiver 610, the transmitter 615, orboth. For example, the communications manager 620 may receiveinformation from the receiver 610, send information to the transmitter615, or be integrated in combination with the receiver 610, thetransmitter 615, or both to receive information, transmit information,or perform various other operations as described herein.

The communications manager 620 may support wireless communication at aUE in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. The random accesscomponent 625 may be configured as or otherwise support a means fortransmitting a random access message during a random access procedurebetween the UE and a base station. The control signal receptioncomponent 630 may be configured as or otherwise support a means forreceiving a control signal that includes a spatial relationconfiguration for transmission, by the UE, of an uplink signal, thespatial relation configuration indicating that transmission of theuplink signal is via a transmit beam used in transmitting the randomaccess message. The uplink signal transmission component 635 may beconfigured as or otherwise support a means for transmitting the uplinksignal using the transmit beam in accordance with the spatial relationconfiguration.

In some cases, the random access component 625, the control signalreception component 630, and the uplink signal transmission component635 may each be or be at least a part of a processor (e.g., atransceiver processor, or a radio processor, or a transmitter processor,or a receiver processor). The processor may be coupled with memory andexecute instructions stored in the memory that enable the processor toperform or facilitate the features of random access component 625, thecontrol signal reception component 630, and the uplink signaltransmission component 635 discussed herein. A transceiver processor maybe collocated with and/or communicate with (e.g., direct the operationsof) a transceiver of the device. A radio processor may be collocatedwith and/or communicate with (e.g., direct the operations of) a radio(e.g., an NR radio, an LTE radio, a Wi-Fi radio) of the device. Atransmitter processor may be collocated with and/or communicate with(e.g., direct the operations of) a transmitter of the device. A receiverprocessor may be collocated with and/or communicate with (e.g., directthe operations of) a receiver of the device.

FIG. 7 shows a block diagram 700 of a communications manager 720 thatsupports spatial relation information based on random access messages inaccordance with aspects of the present disclosure. The communicationsmanager 720 may be an example of aspects of a communications manager520, a communications manager 620, or both, as described herein. Thecommunications manager 720, or various components thereof, may be anexample of means for performing various aspects of spatial relationinformation based on random access messages as described herein. Forexample, the communications manager 720 may include a random accesscomponent 725, a control signal reception component 730, an uplinksignal transmission component 735, a spatial relation IE component 740,a RACH occasion component 745, a random access repetition component 750,an uplink channel repetition component 755, or any combination thereof.Each of these components may communicate, directly or indirectly, withone another (e.g., via one or more buses).

The communications manager 720 may support wireless communication at aUE in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. The random accesscomponent 725 may be configured as or otherwise support a means fortransmitting a random access message during a random access procedurebetween the UE and a base station. The control signal receptioncomponent 730 may be configured as or otherwise support a means forreceiving a control signal that includes a spatial relationconfiguration for transmission, by the UE, of an uplink signal, thespatial relation configuration indicating that transmission of theuplink signal is via a transmit beam used in transmitting the randomaccess message. The uplink signal transmission component 735 may beconfigured as or otherwise support a means for transmitting the uplinksignal using the transmit beam in accordance with the spatial relationconfiguration.

In some examples, to support transmitting the random access message, therandom access component 725 may be configured as or otherwise support ameans for transmitting the random access message using the transmitbeam, where the random access message indicated in the spatial relationconfiguration is one of a preamble message, an uplink shared channelmessage, or a reference signal used by the UE during the random accessprocedure.

In some examples, to support receiving the control signal, the spatialrelation IE component 740 may be configured as or otherwise support ameans for receiving the control signal as an RRC signal or a MAC-CE thatconfigures the spatial relation configuration as a spatial relation IE.

In some examples, the spatial relation IE component 740 may beconfigured as or otherwise support a means for receiving a DCI signalthat schedules the uplink signal and that indicates an identity of therandom access message for the spatial relation IE included in thecontrol signal.

In some examples, the RACH occasion component 745 may be configured asor otherwise support a means for transmitting the random access message,as a preamble random access message, during each of a set of multipleRACH occasions. In some examples, the RACH occasion component 745 may beconfigured as or otherwise support a means for identifying a specificone of the set of multiple RACH occasions on which transmission of therandom access message was via the transmit beam.

In some examples, to support identifying the specific one of the set ofmultiple RACH occasions, the RACH occasion component 745 may beconfigured as or otherwise support a means for receiving an indicationof the specific one of the set of multiple RACH occasions via thecontrol signal including the spatial relation configuration or via aRA-RNTI corresponding to a second random access message received by theUE.

In some examples, the random access repetition component 750 may beconfigured as or otherwise support a means for transmitting the randomaccess message, in the form of a preamble random access message, duringa RACH occasion, where the random access message includes a set ofrandom access repetition messages. In some examples, the random accessrepetition component 750 may be configured as or otherwise support ameans for identifying a specific one of the set of random accessrepetition messages on which transmission of the random access messagewas via the transmit beam.

In some examples, to support identifying the specific one of the set ofrandom access repetition messages, the random access repetitioncomponent 750 may be configured as or otherwise support a means forreceiving an indication of a repetition number corresponding to thespecific one of the set of random access repetition messages via thecontrol signal including the spatial relation configuration or via aRA-RNTI corresponding to a second random access message received by theUE.

In some examples, the RACH occasion component 745 may be configured asor otherwise support a means for transmitting the random access messagevia a set of multiple segments of a RACH occasion. In some examples, theRACH occasion component 745 may be configured as or otherwise support ameans for receiving the control signal including the spatial relationconfiguration, where the spatial relation configuration indicates asegment of the set of multiple segments.

In some examples, the uplink channel repetition component 755 may beconfigured as or otherwise support a means for transmitting the randomaccess message via an uplink channel, where the random access messageincludes a set of uplink channel repetitions of the random accessmessage. In some examples, the uplink channel repetition component 755may be configured as or otherwise support a means for receiving thecontrol signal including the spatial relation configuration, where thespatial relation configuration indicates an uplink channel repetition ofthe set of uplink channel repetitions.

In some examples, the uplink signal transmission component 735 may beconfigured as or otherwise support a means for transmitting a set of oneor more other uplink signals after performing the random accessprocedure using the transmit beam in accordance with the spatialrelation configuration, where the set of one or more other uplinksignals includes PUSCH signals, or PUCCH signals, or SRSs not configuredfor beam management, or a combination thereof.

In some examples, the uplink signal transmission component 735 may beconfigured as or otherwise support a means for receiving an RRCconfiguration indicating the set of one or more other uplink signals.

In some examples, the control signal reception component 730 may beconfigured as or otherwise support a means for receiving a secondcontrol signal that includes a second spatial relation configuration fortransmission, by the UE, of a second set of one or more other uplinksignals, the second spatial relation configuration indicating thattransmission of the second set of one or more other uplink signals isvia a second transmit beam. In some examples, the uplink signaltransmission component 735 may be configured as or otherwise support ameans for transmitting the second set of one or more other uplinksignals using the second transmit beam in accordance with the secondspatial relation configuration.

In some examples, the spatial relation configuration indicates spatialrelation information, a TCI state, or both corresponding to the transmitbeam used in transmitting the random access message. In some examples,the uplink signal includes an SRS, a PUCCH signal, a CG PUSCH signal, aDG PUSCH signal, or a PRACH signal.

In some cases, the random access component 725, the control signalreception component 730, the uplink signal transmission component 735,the spatial relation IE component 740, the RACH occasion component 745,the random access repetition component 750, and the uplink channelrepetition component 755 may each be or be at least a part of aprocessor (e.g., a transceiver processor, or a radio processor, or atransmitter processor, or a receiver processor). The processor may becoupled with memory and execute instructions stored in the memory thatenable the processor to perform or facilitate the features of the randomaccess component 725, the control signal reception component 730, theuplink signal transmission component 735, the spatial relation IEcomponent 740, the RACH occasion component 745, the random accessrepetition component 750, and the uplink channel repetition component755 discussed herein.

FIG. 8 shows a diagram of a system 800 including a device 805 thatsupports spatial relation information based on random access messages inaccordance with aspects of the present disclosure. The device 805 may bean example of or include the components of a device 505, a device 605,or a UE 115 as described herein. The device 805 may communicatewirelessly with one or more base stations 105, UEs 115, or anycombination thereof. The device 805 may include components forbi-directional voice and data communications including components fortransmitting and receiving communications, such as a communicationsmanager 820, an input/output (I/O) controller 810, a transceiver 815, anantenna 825, a memory 830, code 835, and a processor 840. Thesecomponents may be in electronic communication or otherwise coupled(e.g., operatively, communicatively, functionally, electronically,electrically) via one or more buses (e.g., a bus 845).

The I/O controller 810 may manage input and output signals for thedevice 805. The I/O controller 810 may also manage peripherals notintegrated into the device 805. In some cases, the I/O controller 810may represent a physical connection or port to an external peripheral.In some cases, the I/O controller 810 may utilize an operating systemsuch as iOS®, ANDROID®, MS-DOS®, MS-WINDOWS®, OS/2®, UNIX®, LINUX®, oranother known operating system. Additionally or alternatively, the I/Ocontroller 810 may represent or interact with a modem, a keyboard, amouse, a touchscreen, or a similar device. In some cases, the I/Ocontroller 810 may be implemented as part of a processor, such as theprocessor 840. In some cases, a user may interact with the device 805via the I/O controller 810 or via hardware components controlled by theI/O controller 810.

In some cases, the device 805 may include a single antenna 825. However,in some other cases, the device 805 may have more than one antenna 825,which may be capable of concurrently transmitting or receiving multiplewireless transmissions. The transceiver 815 may communicatebi-directionally, via the one or more antennas 825, wired, or wirelesslinks as described herein. For example, the transceiver 815 mayrepresent a wireless transceiver and may communicate bi-directionallywith another wireless transceiver. The transceiver 815 may also includea modem to modulate the packets, to provide the modulated packets to oneor more antennas 825 for transmission, and to demodulate packetsreceived from the one or more antennas 825. The transceiver 815, or thetransceiver 815 and one or more antennas 825, may be an example of atransmitter 515, a transmitter 615, a receiver 510, a receiver 610, orany combination thereof or component thereof, as described herein.

The memory 830 may include random access memory (RAM) and read-onlymemory (ROM). The memory 830 may store computer-readable,computer-executable code 835 including instructions that, when executedby the processor 840, cause the device 805 to perform various functionsdescribed herein. The code 835 may be stored in a non-transitorycomputer-readable medium such as system memory or another type ofmemory. In some cases, the code 835 may not be directly executable bythe processor 840 but may cause a computer (e.g., when compiled andexecuted) to perform functions described herein. In some cases, thememory 830 may contain, among other things, a basic I/O system (BIOS)which may control basic hardware or software operation such as theinteraction with peripheral components or devices.

The processor 840 may include an intelligent hardware device (e.g., ageneral-purpose processor, a DSP, a CPU, a microcontroller, an ASIC, anFPGA, a programmable logic device, a discrete gate or transistor logiccomponent, a discrete hardware component, or any combination thereof).In some cases, the processor 840 may be configured to operate a memoryarray using a memory controller. In some other cases, a memorycontroller may be integrated into the processor 840. The processor 840may be configured to execute computer-readable instructions stored in amemory (e.g., the memory 830) to cause the device 805 to perform variousfunctions (e.g., functions or tasks supporting spatial relationinformation based on random access messages). For example, the device805 or a component of the device 805 may include a processor 840 andmemory 830 coupled to the processor 840, the processor 840 and memory830 configured to perform various functions described herein.

The communications manager 820 may support wireless communication at aUE in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. For example, thecommunications manager 820 may be configured as or otherwise support ameans for transmitting a random access message during a random accessprocedure between the UE and a base station. The communications manager820 may be configured as or otherwise support a means for receiving acontrol signal that includes a spatial relation configuration fortransmission, by the UE, of an uplink signal, the spatial relationconfiguration indicating that transmission of the uplink signal is via atransmit beam used in transmitting the random access message. Thecommunications manager 820 may be configured as or otherwise support ameans for transmitting the uplink signal using the transmit beam inaccordance with the spatial relation configuration.

By including or configuring the communications manager 820 in accordancewith examples as described herein, the device 805 may support techniquesfor improved communication reliability, reduced latency, and improvedcoordination between devices. The device 805 may identify a transmitbeam that is preferred by a base station quicker by performing uplinkbeam management during early initial access than if the device 805 waitsto perform uplink beam management until after an RRC connection isestablished. The device 805 may thereby reduce latency and improvecoordination between devices. By receiving the spatial relationconfiguration identifying a random access message, the device 805 maytransmit subsequent uplink signals using a transmit beam that wasselected by a base station, which may improve communication reliabilityand coordination between devices. Accordingly, the spatial relationconfiguration may provide for improved communications between a basestation and the device 805 during initial access.

In some examples, the communications manager 820 may be configured toperform various operations (e.g., receiving, monitoring, transmitting)using or otherwise in cooperation with the transceiver 815, the one ormore antennas 825, or any combination thereof. Although thecommunications manager 820 is illustrated as a separate component, insome examples, one or more functions described with reference to thecommunications manager 820 may be supported by or performed by theprocessor 840, the memory 830, the code 835, or any combination thereof.For example, the code 835 may include instructions executable by theprocessor 840 to cause the device 805 to perform various aspects ofspatial relation information based on random access messages asdescribed herein, or the processor 840 and the memory 830 may beotherwise configured to perform or support such operations.

FIG. 9 shows a block diagram 900 of a device 905 that supports spatialrelation information based on random access messages in accordance withaspects of the present disclosure. The device 905 may be an example ofaspects of a base station 105 as described herein. The device 905 mayinclude a receiver 910, a transmitter 915, and a communications manager920. The device 905 may also include one or more processors, memorycoupled with the one or more processors, and instructions stored in thememory that are executable by the one or more processors to enable theone or more processors to perform the spatial relation featuresdiscussed herein. Each of these components may be in communication withone another (e.g., via one or more buses).

The receiver 910 may provide a means for receiving information such aspackets, user data, control information, or any combination thereofassociated with various information channels (e.g., control channels,data channels, information channels related to spatial relationinformation based on random access messages). Information may be passedon to other components of the device 905. The receiver 910 may utilize asingle antenna or a set of multiple antennas.

The transmitter 915 may provide a means for transmitting signalsgenerated by other components of the device 905. For example, thetransmitter 915 may transmit information such as packets, user data,control information, or any combination thereof associated with variousinformation channels (e.g., control channels, data channels, informationchannels related to spatial relation information based on random accessmessages). In some examples, the transmitter 915 may be co-located witha receiver 910 in a transceiver module. The transmitter 915 may utilizea single antenna or a set of multiple antennas.

The communications manager 920, the receiver 910, the transmitter 915,or various combinations thereof or various components thereof may beexamples of means for performing various aspects of spatial relationinformation based on random access messages as described herein. Forexample, the communications manager 920, the receiver 910, thetransmitter 915, or various combinations or components thereof maysupport a method for performing one or more of the functions describedherein.

In some examples, the communications manager 920, the receiver 910, thetransmitter 915, or various combinations or components thereof may beimplemented in hardware (e.g., in communications management circuitry).The hardware may include a processor, a DSP, an ASIC, an FPGA or otherprogrammable logic device, a discrete gate or transistor logic, discretehardware components, or any combination thereof configured as orotherwise supporting a means for performing the functions described inthe present disclosure. In some examples, a processor and memory coupledwith the processor may be configured to perform one or more of thefunctions described herein (e.g., by executing, by the processor,instructions stored in the memory).

Additionally or alternatively, in some examples, the communicationsmanager 920, the receiver 910, the transmitter 915, or variouscombinations or components thereof may be implemented in code (e.g., ascommunications management software or firmware) executed by a processor.If implemented in code executed by a processor, the functions of thecommunications manager 920, the receiver 910, the transmitter 915, orvarious combinations or components thereof may be performed by ageneral-purpose processor, a DSP, a CPU, an ASIC, an FPGA, or anycombination of these or other programmable logic devices (e.g.,configured as or otherwise supporting a means for performing thefunctions described in the present disclosure).

In some examples, the communications manager 920 may be configured toperform various operations (e.g., receiving, monitoring, transmitting)using or otherwise in cooperation with the receiver 910, the transmitter915, or both. For example, the communications manager 920 may receiveinformation from the receiver 910, send information to the transmitter915, or be integrated in combination with the receiver 910, thetransmitter 915, or both to receive information, transmit information,or perform various other operations as described herein.

The communications manager 920 may support wireless communication at abase station in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. Forexample, the communications manager 920 may be configured as orotherwise support a means for receiving, from a UE, a random accessmessage during a random access procedure between the UE and the basestation. The communications manager 920 may be configured as orotherwise support a means for transmitting, to the UE, a control signalthat includes a spatial relation configuration for transmission, by theUE, of an uplink signal, the spatial relation configuration indicatingthat transmission of the uplink signal is via a transmit beam used intransmitting the random access message. The communications manager 920may be configured as or otherwise support a means for receiving, fromthe UE, the uplink signal using the transmit beam in accordance with thespatial relation configuration.

FIG. 10 shows a block diagram 1000 of a device 1005 that supportsspatial relation information based on random access messages inaccordance with aspects of the present disclosure. The device 1005 maybe an example of aspects of a device 905 or a base station 105 asdescribed herein. The device 1005 may include a receiver 1010, atransmitter 1015, and a communications manager 1020. The device 1005 mayalso include a processor. Each of these components may be incommunication with one another (e.g., via one or more buses).

The receiver 1010 may provide a means for receiving information such aspackets, user data, control information, or any combination thereofassociated with various information channels (e.g., control channels,data channels, information channels related to spatial relationinformation based on random access messages). Information may be passedon to other components of the device 1005. The receiver 1010 may utilizea single antenna or a set of multiple antennas.

The transmitter 1015 may provide a means for transmitting signalsgenerated by other components of the device 1005. For example, thetransmitter 1015 may transmit information such as packets, user data,control information, or any combination thereof associated with variousinformation channels (e.g., control channels, data channels, informationchannels related to spatial relation information based on random accessmessages). In some examples, the transmitter 1015 may be co-located witha receiver 1010 in a transceiver module. The transmitter 1015 mayutilize a single antenna or a set of multiple antennas.

The device 1005, or various components thereof, may be an example ofmeans for performing various aspects of spatial relation informationbased on random access messages as described herein. For example, thecommunications manager 1020 may include a random access component 1025,a control signal transmission component 1030, an uplink signal receptioncomponent 1035, or any combination thereof. The communications manager1020 may be an example of aspects of a communications manager 920 asdescribed herein. In some examples, the communications manager 1020, orvarious components thereof, may be configured to perform variousoperations (e.g., receiving, monitoring, transmitting) using orotherwise in cooperation with the receiver 1010, the transmitter 1015,or both. For example, the communications manager 1020 may receiveinformation from the receiver 1010, send information to the transmitter1015, or be integrated in combination with the receiver 1010, thetransmitter 1015, or both to receive information, transmit information,or perform various other operations as described herein.

The communications manager 1020 may support wireless communication at abase station in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. The randomaccess component 1025 may be configured as or otherwise support a meansfor receiving, from a UE, a random access message during a random accessprocedure between the UE and the base station. The control signaltransmission component 1030 may be configured as or otherwise support ameans for transmitting, to the UE, a control signal that includes aspatial relation configuration for transmission, by the UE, of an uplinksignal, the spatial relation configuration indicating that transmissionof the uplink signal is via a transmit beam used in transmitting therandom access message. The uplink signal reception component 1035 may beconfigured as or otherwise support a means for receiving, from the UE,the uplink signal using the transmit beam in accordance with the spatialrelation configuration.

In some cases, the random access component 1025, the control signaltransmission component 1030, and the uplink signal reception component1035 may each be or be at least a part of a processor (e.g., atransceiver processor, or a radio processor, or a transmitter processor,or a receiver processor). The processor may be coupled with memory andexecute instructions stored in the memory that enable the processor toperform or facilitate the features of the random access component 1025,the control signal transmission component 1030, and the uplink signalreception component 1035 discussed herein. A transceiver processor maybe collocated with and/or communicate with (e.g., direct the operationsof) a transceiver of the device. A radio processor may be collocatedwith and/or communicate with (e.g., direct the operations of) a radio(e.g., an NR radio, an LTE radio, a Wi-Fi radio) of the device. Atransmitter processor may be collocated with and/or communicate with(e.g., direct the operations of) a transmitter of the device. A receiverprocessor may be collocated with and/or communicate with (e.g., directthe operations of) a receiver of the device.

FIG. 11 shows a block diagram 1100 of a communications manager 1120 thatsupports spatial relation information based on random access messages inaccordance with aspects of the present disclosure. The communicationsmanager 1120 may be an example of aspects of a communications manager920, a communications manager 1020, or both, as described herein. Thecommunications manager 1120, or various components thereof, may be anexample of means for performing various aspects of spatial relationinformation based on random access messages as described herein. Forexample, the communications manager 1120 may include a random accesscomponent 1125, a control signal transmission component 1130, an uplinksignal reception component 1135, a spatial relation IE component 1140, aRACH occasion component 1145, a random access repetition component 1150,an uplink channel repetition component 1155, or any combination thereof.Each of these components may communicate, directly or indirectly, withone another (e.g., via one or more buses).

The communications manager 1120 may support wireless communication at abase station in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. The randomaccess component 1125 may be configured as or otherwise support a meansfor receiving, from a UE, a random access message during a random accessprocedure between the UE and the base station. The control signaltransmission component 1130 may be configured as or otherwise support ameans for transmitting, to the UE, a control signal that includes aspatial relation configuration for transmission, by the UE, of an uplinksignal, the spatial relation configuration indicating that transmissionof the uplink signal is via a transmit beam used in transmitting therandom access message. The uplink signal reception component 1135 may beconfigured as or otherwise support a means for receiving, from the UE,the uplink signal using the transmit beam in accordance with the spatialrelation configuration.

In some examples, to support receiving the random access message, therandom access component 1125 may be configured as or otherwise support ameans for receiving the random access message using the transmit beam,where the random access message indicated in the spatial relationconfiguration is one of a preamble message, an uplink shared channelmessage, or a reference signal used by the UE during the random accessprocedure.

In some examples, to support transmitting the control signal, thespatial relation IE component 1140 may be configured as or otherwisesupport a means for transmitting the control signal as an RRC signal ora MAC-CE that configures the spatial relation configuration as a spatialrelation IE.

In some examples, the spatial relation IE component 1140 may beconfigured as or otherwise support a means for transmitting a DCI signalthat schedules the uplink signal and that indicates an identity of therandom access message for the spatial relation IE included in thecontrol signal.

In some examples, the RACH occasion component 1145 may be configured asor otherwise support a means for receiving the random access message, asa preamble random access message, during each of a set of multiple RACHoccasions. In some examples, the RACH occasion component 1145 may beconfigured as or otherwise support a means for transmitting, to the UE,an indication of a specific one of the set of multiple RACH occasions onwhich reception of the random access message was via the transmit beam,where the indication of the specific one of the set of multiple RACHoccasions is transmitted via the control signal including the spatialrelation configuration or via a RA-RNTI corresponding to a second randomaccess message transmitted by the base station.

In some examples, the random access repetition component 1150 may beconfigured as or otherwise support a means for receiving the randomaccess message, in the form of a preamble random access message, duringa RACH occasion, where the random access message includes a set ofrandom access repetition messages. In some examples, the random accessrepetition component 1150 may be configured as or otherwise support ameans for transmitting, to the UE, an indication of a repetition numbercorresponding to a specific one of the set of random access repetitionmessages on which reception of the random access message was via thetransmit beam, where the indication of the repetition number istransmitted via the control signal including the spatial relationconfiguration or via a RA-RNTI corresponding to a second random accessmessage transmitted by the base station.

In some examples, the RACH occasion component 1145 may be configured asor otherwise support a means for receiving the random access message viaa set of multiple segments of a RACH occasion. In some examples, theRACH occasion component 1145 may be configured as or otherwise support ameans for transmitting the control signal including the spatial relationconfiguration, where the spatial relation configuration indicates asegment of the set of multiple segments.

In some examples, the uplink channel repetition component 1155 may beconfigured as or otherwise support a means for receiving the randomaccess message via an uplink channel, where the random access messageincludes a set of uplink channel repetitions of the random accessmessage. In some examples, the uplink channel repetition component 1155may be configured as or otherwise support a means for transmitting thecontrol signal including the spatial relation configuration, where thespatial relation configuration indicates an uplink channel repetition ofthe set of uplink channel repetitions.

In some examples, the uplink signal reception component 1135 may beconfigured as or otherwise support a means for receiving, from the UE, aset of one or more other uplink signals using the transmit beam inaccordance with the spatial relation configuration, where the set of oneor more other uplink signals include PUSCH signals, or PUCCH signals, orSRSs not configured for beam management, or a combination thereof.

In some examples, the control signal transmission component 1130 may beconfigured as or otherwise support a means for transmitting, to the UE,a RRC configuration indicating the set of one or more other uplinksignals.

In some examples, the control signal transmission component 1130 may beconfigured as or otherwise support a means for transmitting, to the UE,a second control signal that includes a second spatial relationconfiguration for transmission, by the UE, of a second set of one ormore other uplink signals, the second spatial relation configurationindicating that transmission of the second set of one or more otheruplink signals is via a second transmit beam. In some examples, theuplink signal reception component 1135 may be configured as or otherwisesupport a means for receiving, from the UE, the second set of one ormore other uplink signals using the second transmit beam in accordancewith the second spatial relation configuration.

In some examples, the spatial relation configuration indicates spatialrelation information, a TCI state, or both corresponding to the transmitbeam used in transmitting the random access message. In some examples,the uplink signal includes an SRS, a PUCCH signal, a CG PUSCH signal, aDG PUSCH signal, or a PRACH signal.

In some cases, the random access component 1125, the control signaltransmission component 1130, the uplink signal reception component 1135,the spatial relation IE component 1140, the RACH occasion component1145, the random access repetition component 1150, and the uplinkchannel repetition component 1155 may each be or be at least a part of aprocessor (e.g., a transceiver processor, or a radio processor, or atransmitter processor, or a receiver processor). The processor may becoupled with memory and execute instructions stored in the memory thatenable the processor to perform or facilitate the features of the randomaccess component 1125, the control signal transmission component 1130,the uplink signal reception component 1135, the spatial relation IEcomponent 1140, the RACH occasion component 1145, the random accessrepetition component 1150, and the uplink channel repetition component1155 discussed herein.

FIG. 12 shows a diagram of a system 1200 including a device 1205 thatsupports spatial relation information based on random access messages inaccordance with aspects of the present disclosure. The device 1205 maybe an example of or include the components of a device 905, a device1005, or a base station 105 as described herein. The device 1205 maycommunicate wirelessly with one or more base stations 105, UEs 115, orany combination thereof. The device 1205 may include components forbi-directional voice and data communications including components fortransmitting and receiving communications, such as a communicationsmanager 1220, a network communications manager 1210, a transceiver 1215,an antenna 1225, a memory 1230, code 1235, a processor 1240, and aninter-station communications manager 1245. These components may be inelectronic communication or otherwise coupled (e.g., operatively,communicatively, functionally, electronically, electrically) via one ormore buses (e.g., a bus 1250).

The network communications manager 1210 may manage communications with acore network 130 (e.g., via one or more wired backhaul links). Forexample, the network communications manager 1210 may manage the transferof data communications for client devices, such as one or more UEs 115.

In some cases, the device 1205 may include a single antenna 1225.However, in some other cases the device 1205 may have more than oneantenna 1225, which may be capable of concurrently transmitting orreceiving multiple wireless transmissions. The transceiver 1215 maycommunicate bi-directionally, via the one or more antennas 1225, wired,or wireless links as described herein. For example, the transceiver 1215may represent a wireless transceiver and may communicatebi-directionally with another wireless transceiver. The transceiver 1215may also include a modem to modulate the packets, to provide themodulated packets to one or more antennas 1225 for transmission, and todemodulate packets received from the one or more antennas 1225. Thetransceiver 1215, or the transceiver 1215 and one or more antennas 1225,may be an example of a transmitter 915, a transmitter 1015, a receiver910, a receiver 1010, or any combination thereof or component thereof,as described herein.

The memory 1230 may include RAM and ROM. The memory 1230 may storecomputer-readable, computer-executable code 1235 including instructionsthat, when executed by the processor 1240, cause the device 1205 toperform various functions described herein. The code 1235 may be storedin a non-transitory computer-readable medium such as system memory oranother type of memory. In some cases, the code 1235 may not be directlyexecutable by the processor 1240 but may cause a computer (e.g., whencompiled and executed) to perform functions described herein. In somecases, the memory 1230 may contain, among other things, a BIOS which maycontrol basic hardware or software operation such as the interactionwith peripheral components or devices.

The processor 1240 may include an intelligent hardware device (e.g., ageneral-purpose processor, a DSP, a CPU, a microcontroller, an ASIC, anFPGA, a programmable logic device, a discrete gate or transistor logiccomponent, a discrete hardware component, or any combination thereof).In some cases, the processor 1240 may be configured to operate a memoryarray using a memory controller. In some other cases, a memorycontroller may be integrated into the processor 1240. The processor 1240may be configured to execute computer-readable instructions stored in amemory (e.g., the memory 1230) to cause the device 1205 to performvarious functions (e.g., functions or tasks supporting spatial relationinformation based on random access messages). For example, the device1205 or a component of the device 1205 may include a processor 1240 andmemory 1230 coupled to the processor 1240, the processor 1240 and memory1230 configured to perform various functions described herein.

The inter-station communications manager 1245 may manage communicationswith other base stations 105, and may include a controller or schedulerfor controlling communications with UEs 115 in cooperation with otherbase stations 105. For example, the inter-station communications manager1245 may coordinate scheduling for transmissions to UEs 115 for variousinterference mitigation techniques such as beamforming or jointtransmission. In some examples, the inter-station communications manager1245 may provide an X2 interface within an LTE/LTE-A wirelesscommunications network technology to provide communication between basestations 105.

The communications manager 1220 may support wireless communication at abase station in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. Forexample, the communications manager 1220 may be configured as orotherwise support a means for receiving, from a UE, a random accessmessage during a random access procedure between the UE and the basestation. The communications manager 1220 may be configured as orotherwise support a means for transmitting, to the UE, a control signalthat includes a spatial relation configuration for transmission, by theUE, of an uplink signal, the spatial relation configuration indicatingthat transmission of the uplink signal is via a transmit beam used intransmitting the random access message. The communications manager 1220may be configured as or otherwise support a means for receiving, fromthe UE, the uplink signal using the transmit beam in accordance with thespatial relation configuration.

In some examples, the communications manager 1220 may be configured toperform various operations (e.g., receiving, monitoring, transmitting)using or otherwise in cooperation with the transceiver 1215, the one ormore antennas 1225, or any combination thereof. Although thecommunications manager 1220 is illustrated as a separate component, insome examples, one or more functions described with reference to thecommunications manager 1220 may be supported by or performed by theprocessor 1240, the memory 1230, the code 1235, or any combinationthereof. For example, the code 1235 may include instructions executableby the processor 1240 to cause the device 1205 to perform variousaspects of spatial relation information based on random access messagesas described herein, or the processor 1240 and the memory 1230 may beotherwise configured to perform or support such operations.

FIG. 13 shows a flowchart illustrating a method 1300 that supportsspatial relation information based on random access messages inaccordance with aspects of the present disclosure. The operations of themethod 1300 may be implemented by a UE or its components as describedherein. For example, the operations of the method 1300 may be performedby a UE 115 as described with reference to FIGS. 1 through 8. In someexamples, a UE may execute a set of instructions to control thefunctional elements of the UE to perform the described functions.Additionally or alternatively, the UE may perform aspects of thedescribed functions using special-purpose hardware.

At 1305, the method may include transmitting a random access messageduring a random access procedure between the UE and a base station. Theoperations of 1305 may be performed in accordance with examples asdisclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1305may be performed by a random access component 725 as described withreference to FIG. 7.

At 1310, the method may include receiving a control signal that includesa spatial relation configuration for transmission, by the UE, of anuplink signal, the spatial relation configuration indicating thattransmission of the uplink signal is via a transmit beam used intransmitting the random access message. The operations of 1310 may beperformed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In someexamples, aspects of the operations of 1310 may be performed by acontrol signal reception component 730 as described with reference toFIG. 7.

At 1315, the method may include transmitting the uplink signal using thetransmit beam in accordance with the spatial relation configuration. Theoperations of 1315 may be performed in accordance with examples asdisclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1315may be performed by an uplink signal transmission component 735 asdescribed with reference to FIG. 7.

FIG. 14 shows a flowchart illustrating a method 1400 that supportsspatial relation information based on random access messages inaccordance with aspects of the present disclosure. The operations of themethod 1400 may be implemented by a UE or its components as describedherein. For example, the operations of the method 1400 may be performedby a UE 115 as described with reference to FIGS. 1 through 8. In someexamples, a UE may execute a set of instructions to control thefunctional elements of the UE to perform the described functions.Additionally or alternatively, the UE may perform aspects of thedescribed functions using special-purpose hardware.

At 1405, the method may include transmitting a random access messageduring a random access procedure between the UE and a base station. Theoperations of 1405 may be performed in accordance with examples asdisclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1405may be performed by a random access component 725 as described withreference to FIG. 7.

At 1410, the method may include receiving a control signal that includesa spatial relation configuration for transmission, by the UE, of anuplink signal, the spatial relation configuration indicating thattransmission of the uplink signal is via a transmit beam used intransmitting the random access message. The operations of 1410 may beperformed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In someexamples, aspects of the operations of 1410 may be performed by acontrol signal reception component 730 as described with reference toFIG. 7.

At 1415, the method may include receiving the control signal as an RRCsignal or a MAC-CE that configures the spatial relation configuration asa spatial relation IE. The operations of 1415 may be performed inaccordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspectsof the operations of 1415 may be performed by a spatial relation IEcomponent 740 as described with reference to FIG. 7.

At 1420, the method may include transmitting the uplink signal using thetransmit beam in accordance with the spatial relation configuration. Theoperations of 1420 may be performed in accordance with examples asdisclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1420may be performed by an uplink signal transmission component 735 asdescribed with reference to FIG. 7.

FIG. 15 shows a flowchart illustrating a method 1500 that supportsspatial relation information based on random access messages inaccordance with aspects of the present disclosure. The operations of themethod 1500 may be implemented by a UE or its components as describedherein. For example, the operations of the method 1500 may be performedby a UE 115 as described with reference to FIGS. 1 through 8. In someexamples, a UE may execute a set of instructions to control thefunctional elements of the UE to perform the described functions.Additionally or alternatively, the UE may perform aspects of thedescribed functions using special-purpose hardware.

At 1505, the method may include transmitting a random access messageduring a random access procedure between the UE and a base station. Theoperations of 1505 may be performed in accordance with examples asdisclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1505may be performed by a random access component 725 as described withreference to FIG. 7.

At 1510, the method may include receiving a control signal that includesa spatial relation configuration for transmission, by the UE, of anuplink signal, the spatial relation configuration indicating thattransmission of the uplink signal is via a transmit beam used intransmitting the random access message. The operations of 1510 may beperformed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In someexamples, aspects of the operations of 1510 may be performed by acontrol signal reception component 730 as described with reference toFIG. 7.

At 1515, the method may include transmitting the uplink signal using thetransmit beam in accordance with the spatial relation configuration. Theoperations of 1515 may be performed in accordance with examples asdisclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1515may be performed by an uplink signal transmission component 735 asdescribed with reference to FIG. 7.

At 1520, the method may include transmitting a set of one or more otheruplink signals after performing the random access procedure using thetransmit beam in accordance with the spatial relation configuration,where the set of one or more other uplink signals includes physicaluplink shared channel signals, or physical uplink control channelsignals, or sounding reference signals not configured for beammanagement, or a combination thereof. The operations of 1520 may beperformed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In someexamples, aspects of the operations of 1520 may be performed by anuplink signal transmission component 735 as described with reference toFIG. 7.

FIG. 16 shows a flowchart illustrating a method 1600 that supportsspatial relation information based on random access messages inaccordance with aspects of the present disclosure. The operations of themethod 1600 may be implemented by a base station or its components asdescribed herein. For example, the operations of the method 1600 may beperformed by a base station 105 as described with reference to FIGS. 1through 4 and 9 through 12. In some examples, a base station may executea set of instructions to control the functional elements of the basestation to perform the described functions. Additionally oralternatively, the base station may perform aspects of the describedfunctions using special-purpose hardware.

At 1605, the method may include receiving, from a UE, a random accessmessage during a random access procedure between the UE and the basestation. The operations of 1605 may be performed in accordance withexamples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of theoperations of 1605 may be performed by a random access component 1125 asdescribed with reference to FIG. 11.

At 1610, the method may include transmitting, to the UE, a controlsignal that includes a spatial relation configuration for transmission,by the UE, of an uplink signal, the spatial relation configurationindicating that transmission of the uplink signal is via a transmit beamused in transmitting the random access message. The operations of 1610may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. Insome examples, aspects of the operations of 1610 may be performed by acontrol signal transmission component 1130 as described with referenceto FIG. 11.

At 1615, the method may include receiving, from the UE, the uplinksignal using the transmit beam in accordance with the spatial relationconfiguration. The operations of 1615 may be performed in accordancewith examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of theoperations of 1615 may be performed by an uplink signal receptioncomponent 1135 as described with reference to FIG. 11.

The following provides an overview of aspects of the present disclosure:

Aspect 1: A method for wireless communication at a UE, comprising:transmitting a random access message during a random access procedurebetween the UE and a base station; receiving a control signal thatincludes a spatial relation configuration for transmission, by the UE,of an uplink signal, the spatial relation configuration indicating thattransmission of the uplink signal is via a transmit beam used intransmitting the random access message; and transmitting the uplinksignal using the transmit beam in accordance with the spatial relationconfiguration.

Aspect 2: The method of aspect 1, wherein transmitting the random accessmessage further comprises: transmitting the random access message usingthe transmit beam, wherein the random access message indicated in thespatial relation configuration is one of a preamble message, an uplinkshared channel message, or a reference signal used by the UE during therandom access procedure.

Aspect 3: The method of any of aspects 1 through 2, wherein receivingthe control signal further comprises: receiving the control signal as anRRC signal or a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE) thatconfigures the spatial relation configuration as a spatial relationinformation element.

Aspect 4: The method of aspect 3, further comprising: receiving adownlink control information signal that schedules the uplink signal andthat indicates an identity of the random access message for the spatialrelation information element included in the control signal.

Aspect 5: The method of any of aspects 1 through 4, further comprising:transmitting the random access message, as a preamble random accessmessage, during each of a plurality of random access channel occasions;and identifying a specific one of the plurality of random access channeloccasions on which transmission of the random access message was via thetransmit beam.

Aspect 6: The method of aspect 5, wherein identifying the specific oneof the plurality of random access channel occasions comprises: receivingan indication of the specific one of the plurality of random accesschannel occasions via the control signal comprising the spatial relationconfiguration or via a random access radio network temporary identifiercorresponding to a second random access message received by the UE.

Aspect 7: The method of any of aspects 1 through 4, further comprising:transmitting the random access message, in the form of a preamble randomaccess message, during a random access channel occasion, wherein therandom access message comprises a set of random access repetitionmessages; and identifying a specific one of the set of random accessrepetition messages on which transmission of the random access messagewas via the transmit beam.

Aspect 8: The method of aspect 7, wherein identifying the specific oneof the set of random access repetition messages comprises: receiving anindication of a repetition number corresponding to the specific one ofthe set of random access repetition messages via the control signalcomprising the spatial relation configuration or via a random accessradio network temporary identifier corresponding to a second randomaccess message received by the UE.

Aspect 9: The method of any of aspects 1 through 4, further comprising:transmitting the random access message via a plurality of segments of arandom access channel occasion; and receiving the control signalcomprising the spatial relation configuration, wherein the spatialrelation configuration indicates a segment of the plurality of segments.

Aspect 10: The method of any of aspects 1 through 4, further comprising:transmitting the random access message via an uplink channel, whereinthe random access message comprises a set of uplink channel repetitionsof the random access message; and receiving the control signalcomprising the spatial relation configuration, wherein the spatialrelation configuration indicates an uplink channel repetition of the setof uplink channel repetitions.

Aspect 11: The method of any of aspects 1 through 10, furthercomprising: transmitting a set of one or more other uplink signals afterperforming the random access procedure using the transmit beam inaccordance with the spatial relation configuration, wherein the set ofone or more other uplink signals comprises physical uplink sharedchannel signals, or physical uplink control channel signals, or soundingreference signals not configured for beam management, or a combinationthereof.

Aspect 12: The method of aspect 11, further comprising: receiving aradio resource control configuration indicating the set of one or moreother uplink signals.

Aspect 13: The method of any of aspects 11 through 12, furthercomprising: receiving a second control signal that includes a secondspatial relation configuration for transmission, by the UE, of a secondset of one or more other uplink signals, the second spatial relationconfiguration indicating that transmission of the second set of one ormore other uplink signals is via a second transmit beam; andtransmitting the second set of one or more other uplink signals usingthe second transmit beam in accordance with the second spatial relationconfiguration.

Aspect 14: The method of any of aspects 1 through 13, wherein thespatial relation configuration indicates spatial relation information, atransmission configuration indicator state, or both corresponding to thetransmit beam used in transmitting the random access message.

Aspect 15: The method of any of aspects 1 through 14, wherein the uplinksignal comprises a sounding reference signal, a physical uplink controlchannel signal, a configured grant physical uplink shared channelsignal, a dynamic grant physical uplink shared channel signal, or aphysical random access channel signal.

Aspect 16: A method for wireless communication at a base station,comprising: receiving, from a UE, a random access message during arandom access procedure between the UE and the base station;transmitting, to the UE, a control signal that includes a spatialrelation configuration for transmission, by the UE, of an uplink signal,the spatial relation configuration indicating that transmission of theuplink signal is via a transmit beam used in transmitting the randomaccess message; and receiving, from the UE, the uplink signal using thetransmit beam in accordance with the spatial relation configuration.

Aspect 17: The method of aspect 16, wherein receiving the random accessmessage further comprises: receiving the random access message using thetransmit beam, wherein the random access message indicated in thespatial relation configuration is one of a preamble message, an uplinkshared channel message, or a reference signal used by the UE during therandom access procedure.

Aspect 18: The method of any of aspects 16 through 17, whereintransmitting the control signal further comprises: transmitting thecontrol signal as an RRC signal or a medium access control (MAC) controlelement (CE) that configures the spatial relation configuration as aspatial relation information element

Aspect 19: The method of aspect 18, further comprising: transmitting adownlink control information signal that schedules the uplink signal andthat indicates an identity of the random access message for the spatialrelation information element included in the control signal.

Aspect 20: The method of any of aspects 16 through 19, furthercomprising: receiving the random access message, as a preamble randomaccess message, during each of a plurality of random access channeloccasions; and transmitting, to the UE, an indication of a specific oneof the plurality of random access channel occasions on which receptionof the random access message was via the transmit beam, wherein theindication of the specific one of the plurality of random access channeloccasions is transmitted via the control signal comprising the spatialrelation configuration or via a random access radio network temporaryidentifier corresponding to a second random access message transmittedby the base station.

Aspect 21: The method of any of aspects 16 through 19, furthercomprising: receiving the random access message, in the form of apreamble random access message, during a random access channel occasion,wherein the random access message comprises a set of random accessrepetition messages; and transmitting, to the UE, an indication of arepetition number corresponding to a specific one of the set of randomaccess repetition messages on which reception of the random accessmessage was via the transmit beam, wherein the indication of therepetition number is transmitted via the control signal comprising thespatial relation configuration or via a random access radio networktemporary identifier corresponding to a second random access messagetransmitted by the base station.

Aspect 22: The method of any of aspects 16 through 19, furthercomprising: receiving the random access message via a plurality ofsegments of a random access channel occasion; and transmitting thecontrol signal comprising the spatial relation configuration, whereinthe spatial relation configuration indicates a segment of the pluralityof segments.

Aspect 23: The method of any of aspects 16 through 19, furthercomprising: receiving the random access message via an uplink channel,wherein the random access message comprises a set of uplink channelrepetitions of the random access message; and transmitting the controlsignal comprising the spatial relation configuration, wherein thespatial relation configuration indicates an uplink channel repetition ofthe set of uplink channel repetitions.

Aspect 24: The method of any of aspects 16 through 23, furthercomprising: receiving, from the UE, a set of one or more other uplinksignals using the transmit beam in accordance with the spatial relationconfiguration, wherein the set of one or more other uplink signalscomprise physical uplink shared channel signals, or physical uplinkcontrol channel signals, or sounding reference signals not configuredfor beam management, or a combination thereof.

Aspect 25: The method of aspect 24, further comprising: transmitting, tothe UE, a radio resource control configuration indicating the set of oneor more other uplink signals.

Aspect 26: The method of any of aspects 24 through 25, furthercomprising: transmitting, to the UE, a second control signal thatincludes a second spatial relation configuration for transmission, bythe UE, of a second set of one or more other uplink signals, the secondspatial relation configuration indicating that transmission of thesecond set of one or more other uplink signals is via a second transmitbeam; and receiving, from the UE, the second set of one or more otheruplink signals using the second transmit beam in accordance with thesecond spatial relation configuration.

Aspect 27: An apparatus for wireless communication at a UE, comprising aprocessor; memory coupled with the processor; and instructions stored inthe memory and executable by the processor to cause the apparatus toperform a method of any of aspects 1 through 15.

Aspect 28: An apparatus for wireless communication at a UE, comprisingat least one means for performing a method of any of aspects 1 through15.

Aspect 29: A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing code forwireless communication at a UE, the code comprising instructionsexecutable by a processor to perform a method of any of aspects 1through 15.

Aspect 30: An apparatus for wireless communication at a base station,comprising a processor; memory coupled with the processor; andinstructions stored in the memory and executable by the processor tocause the apparatus to perform a method of any of aspects 16 through 26.

Aspect 31: An apparatus for wireless communication at a base station,comprising at least one means for performing a method of any of aspects16 through 26.

Aspect 32: A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing code forwireless communication at a base station, the code comprisinginstructions executable by a processor to perform a method of any ofaspects 16 through 26.

It should be noted that the methods described herein describe possibleimplementations, and that the operations and the steps may be rearrangedor otherwise modified and that other implementations are possible.Further, aspects from two or more of the methods may be combined.

Although aspects of an LTE, LTE-A, LTE-A Pro, or NR system may bedescribed for purposes of example, and LTE, LTE-A, LTE-A Pro, or NRterminology may be used in much of the description, the techniquesdescribed herein are applicable beyond LTE, LTE-A, LTE-A Pro, or NRnetworks. For example, the described techniques may be applicable tovarious other wireless communications systems such as Ultra MobileBroadband (UMB), Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers(IEEE) 802.11 (Wi-Fi), IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX), IEEE 802.20, Flash-OFDM, aswell as other systems and radio technologies not explicitly mentionedherein.

Information and signals described herein may be represented using any ofa variety of different technologies and techniques. For example, data,instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chipsthat may be referenced throughout the description may be represented byvoltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles,optical fields or particles, or any combination thereof.

The various illustrative blocks and components described in connectionwith the disclosure herein may be implemented or performed with ageneral-purpose processor, a DSP, an ASIC, a CPU, an FPGA or otherprogrammable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discretehardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform thefunctions described herein. A general-purpose processor may be amicroprocessor, but in the alternative, the processor may be anyprocessor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processormay also be implemented as a combination of computing devices (e.g., acombination of a DSP and a microprocessor, multiple microprocessors, oneor more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any othersuch configuration).

The functions described herein may be implemented in hardware, softwareexecuted by a processor, firmware, or any combination thereof. Ifimplemented in software executed by a processor, the functions may bestored on or transmitted over as one or more instructions or code on acomputer-readable medium. Other examples and implementations are withinthe scope of the disclosure and appended claims. For example, due to thenature of software, functions described herein may be implemented usingsoftware executed by a processor, hardware, firmware, hardwiring, orcombinations of any of these. Features implementing functions may alsobe physically located at various positions, including being distributedsuch that portions of functions are implemented at different physicallocations.

Computer-readable media includes both non-transitory computer storagemedia and communication media including any medium that facilitatestransfer of a computer program from one place to another. Anon-transitory storage medium may be any available medium that may beaccessed by a general-purpose or special-purpose computer. By way ofexample, and not limitation, non-transitory computer-readable media mayinclude RAM, ROM, electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), flashmemory, compact disk (CD) ROM or other optical disk storage, magneticdisk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any othernon-transitory medium that may be used to carry or store desired programcode means in the form of instructions or data structures and that maybe accessed by a general-purpose or special-purpose computer, or ageneral-purpose or special-purpose processor. Also, any connection isproperly termed a computer-readable medium. For example, if the softwareis transmitted from a website, server, or other remote source using acoaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, digital subscriber line(DSL), or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave,then the coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, DSL, orwireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave areincluded in the definition of computer-readable medium. Disk and disc,as used herein, include CD, laser disc, optical disc, digital versatiledisc (DVD), floppy disk and Blu-ray disc where disks usually reproducedata magnetically, while discs reproduce data optically with lasers.Combinations of the above are also included within the scope ofcomputer-readable media.

As used herein, including in the claims, “or” as used in a list of items(e.g., a list of items prefaced by a phrase such as “at least one of” or“one or more of”) indicates an inclusive list such that, for example, alist of at least one of A, B, or C means A or B or C or AB or AC or BCor ABC (i.e., A and B and C). Also, as used herein, the phrase “basedon” shall not be construed as a reference to a closed set of conditions.For example, an example step that is described as “based on condition A”may be based on both a condition A and a condition B without departingfrom the scope of the present disclosure. In other words, as usedherein, the phrase “based on” shall be construed in the same manner asthe phrase “based at least in part on.”

The term “determine” or “determining” encompasses a wide variety ofactions and, therefore, “determining” can include calculating,computing, processing, deriving, investigating, looking up (such as vialooking up in a table, a database or another data structure),ascertaining and the like. Also, “determining” can include receiving(such as receiving information), accessing (such as accessing data in amemory) and the like. Also, “determining” can include resolving,selecting, choosing, establishing and other such similar actions.

In the appended figures, similar components or features may have thesame reference label. Further, various components of the same type maybe distinguished by following the reference label by a dash and a secondlabel that distinguishes among the similar components. If just the firstreference label is used in the specification, the description isapplicable to any one of the similar components having the same firstreference label irrespective of the second reference label, or othersubsequent reference label.

The description set forth herein, in connection with the appendeddrawings, describes example configurations and does not represent allthe examples that may be implemented or that are within the scope of theclaims. The term “example” used herein means “serving as an example,instance, or illustration,” and not “preferred” or “advantageous overother examples.” The detailed description includes specific details forthe purpose of providing an understanding of the described techniques.These techniques, however, may be practiced without these specificdetails. In some instances, known structures and devices are shown inblock diagram form in order to avoid obscuring the concepts of thedescribed examples.

The description herein is provided to enable a person having ordinaryskill in the art to make or use the disclosure. Various modifications tothe disclosure will be apparent to a person having ordinary skill in theart, and the generic principles defined herein may be applied to othervariations without departing from the scope of the disclosure. Thus, thedisclosure is not limited to the examples and designs described hereinbut is to be accorded the broadest scope consistent with the principlesand novel features disclosed herein.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for wireless communication at a userequipment (UE), comprising: transmitting a random access message duringa random access procedure between the UE and a base station; receiving acontrol signal that includes a spatial relation configuration fortransmission, by the UE, of an uplink signal, the spatial relationconfiguration indicating that transmission of the uplink signal is via atransmit beam used in transmitting the random access message; andtransmitting the uplink signal using the transmit beam in accordancewith the spatial relation configuration.
 2. The method of claim 1,wherein transmitting the random access message further comprises:transmitting the random access message using the transmit beam, whereinthe random access message indicated in the spatial relationconfiguration is one of a preamble message, an uplink shared channelmessage, or a reference signal used by the UE during the random accessprocedure.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the controlsignal further comprises: receiving the control signal as a radioresource control (RRC) signal or a medium access control (MAC) controlelement (CE) that configures the spatial relation configuration as aspatial relation information element.
 4. The method of claim 3, furthercomprising: receiving a downlink control information signal thatschedules the uplink signal and that indicates an identity of the randomaccess message for the spatial relation information element included inthe control signal.
 5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:transmitting the random access message, as a preamble random accessmessage, during each of a plurality of random access channel occasions;and identifying a specific one of the plurality of random access channeloccasions on which transmission of the random access message was via thetransmit beam.
 6. The method of claim 5, wherein identifying thespecific one of the plurality of random access channel occasionscomprises: receiving an indication of the specific one of the pluralityof random access channel occasions via the control signal comprising thespatial relation configuration or via a random access radio networktemporary identifier corresponding to a second random access messagereceived by the UE.
 7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:transmitting the random access message, in the form of a preamble randomaccess message, during a random access channel occasion, wherein therandom access message comprises a set of random access repetitionmessages; and identifying a specific one of the set of random accessrepetition messages on which transmission of the random access messagewas via the transmit beam.
 8. The method of claim 7, wherein identifyingthe specific one of the set of random access repetition messagescomprises: receiving an indication of a repetition number correspondingto the specific one of the set of random access repetition messages viathe control signal comprising the spatial relation configuration or viaa random access radio network temporary identifier corresponding to asecond random access message received by the UE.
 9. The method of claim1, further comprising: transmitting the random access message via aplurality of segments of a random access channel occasion; and receivingthe control signal comprising the spatial relation configuration,wherein the spatial relation configuration indicates a segment of theplurality of segments.
 10. The method of claim 1, further comprising:transmitting the random access message via an uplink channel, whereinthe random access message comprises a set of uplink channel repetitionsof the random access message; and receiving the control signalcomprising the spatial relation configuration, wherein the spatialrelation configuration indicates an uplink channel repetition of the setof uplink channel repetitions.
 11. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: transmitting a set of one or more other uplink signals afterperforming the random access procedure using the transmit beam inaccordance with the spatial relation configuration, wherein the set ofone or more other uplink signals comprises physical uplink sharedchannel signals, or physical uplink control channel signals, or soundingreference signals not configured for beam management, or a combinationthereof.
 12. The method of claim 11, further comprising: receiving aradio resource control configuration indicating the set of one or moreother uplink signals.
 13. The method of claim 11, further comprising:receiving a second control signal that includes a second spatialrelation configuration for transmission, by the UE, of a second set ofone or more other uplink signals, the second spatial relationconfiguration indicating that transmission of the second set of one ormore other uplink signals is via a second transmit beam; andtransmitting the second set of one or more other uplink signals usingthe second transmit beam in accordance with the second spatial relationconfiguration.
 14. The method of claim 1, wherein the spatial relationconfiguration indicates spatial relation information, a transmissionconfiguration indicator state, or both corresponding to the transmitbeam used in transmitting the random access message.
 15. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the uplink signal comprises a sounding referencesignal, a physical uplink control channel signal, a configured grantphysical uplink shared channel signal, a dynamic grant physical uplinkshared channel signal, or a physical random access channel signal.
 16. Amethod for wireless communication at a base station, comprising:receiving, from a user equipment (UE), a random access message during arandom access procedure between the UE and the base station;transmitting, to the UE, a control signal that includes a spatialrelation configuration for transmission, by the UE, of an uplink signal,the spatial relation configuration indicating that transmission of theuplink signal is via a transmit beam used in transmitting the randomaccess message; and receiving, from the UE, the uplink signal using thetransmit beam in accordance with the spatial relation configuration. 17.The method of claim 16, wherein receiving the random access messagefurther comprises: receiving the random access message using thetransmit beam, wherein the random access message indicated in thespatial relation configuration is one of a preamble message, an uplinkshared channel message, or a reference signal used by the UE during therandom access procedure.
 18. The method of claim 16, whereintransmitting the control signal further comprises: transmitting thecontrol signal as a radio resource control (RRC) signal or a mediumaccess control (MAC) control element (CE) that configures the spatialrelation configuration as a spatial relation information element. 19.The method of claim 18, further comprising: transmitting a downlinkcontrol information signal that schedules the uplink signal and thatindicates an identity of the random access message for the spatialrelation information element included in the control signal.
 20. Themethod of claim 16, further comprising: receiving the random accessmessage, as a preamble random access message, during each of a pluralityof random access channel occasions; and transmitting, to the UE, anindication of a specific one of the plurality of random access channeloccasions on which reception of the random access message was via thetransmit beam, wherein the indication of the specific one of theplurality of random access channel occasions is transmitted via thecontrol signal comprising the spatial relation configuration or via arandom access radio network temporary identifier corresponding to asecond random access message transmitted by the base station.
 21. Themethod of claim 16, further comprising: receiving the random accessmessage, in the form of a preamble random access message, during arandom access channel occasion, wherein the random access messagecomprises a set of random access repetition messages; and transmitting,to the UE, an indication of a repetition number corresponding to aspecific one of the set of random access repetition messages on whichreception of the random access message was via the transmit beam,wherein the indication of the repetition number is transmitted via thecontrol signal comprising the spatial relation configuration or via arandom access radio network temporary identifier corresponding to asecond random access message transmitted by the base station.
 22. Themethod of claim 16, further comprising: receiving the random accessmessage via a plurality of segments of a random access channel occasion;and transmitting the control signal comprising the spatial relationconfiguration, wherein the spatial relation configuration indicates asegment of the plurality of segments.
 23. The method of claim 16,further comprising: receiving the random access message via an uplinkchannel, wherein the random access message comprises a set of uplinkchannel repetitions of the random access message; and transmitting thecontrol signal comprising the spatial relation configuration, whereinthe spatial relation configuration indicates an uplink channelrepetition of the set of uplink channel repetitions.
 24. The method ofclaim 16, further comprising: receiving, from the UE, a set of one ormore other uplink signals using the transmit beam in accordance with thespatial relation configuration, wherein the set of one or more otheruplink signals comprise physical uplink shared channel signals, orphysical uplink control channel signals, or sounding reference signalsnot configured for beam management, or a combination thereof.
 25. Themethod of claim 24, further comprising: transmitting, to the UE, a radioresource control configuration indicating the set of one or more otheruplink signals.
 26. The method of claim 24, further comprising:transmitting, to the UE, a second control signal that includes a secondspatial relation configuration for transmission, by the UE, of a secondset of one or more other uplink signals, the second spatial relationconfiguration indicating that transmission of the second set of one ormore other uplink signals is via a second transmit beam; and receiving,from the UE, the second set of one or more other uplink signals usingthe second transmit beam in accordance with the second spatial relationconfiguration.
 27. An apparatus for wireless communication at a userequipment (UE), comprising: a processor; memory coupled with theprocessor; and instructions stored in the memory and executable by theprocessor to cause the apparatus to: transmit a random access messageduring a random access procedure between the UE and a base station;receive a control signal that includes a spatial relation configurationfor transmission, by the UE, of an uplink signal, the spatial relationconfiguration indicating that transmission of the uplink signal is via atransmit beam used in transmitting the random access message; andtransmit the uplink signal using the transmit beam in accordance withthe spatial relation configuration.
 28. The apparatus of claim 27,wherein the instructions are further executable by the processor totransmit the random access message by being executable by the processorto: transmit the random access message using the transmit beam, whereinthe random access message indicated in the spatial relationconfiguration is one of a preamble message, an uplink shared channelmessage, or a reference signal used by the UE during the random accessprocedure.
 29. The apparatus of claim 27, wherein the instructions arefurther executable by the processor to receive the control signal bybeing executable by the processor to: receive the control signal as aradio resource control (RRC) signal or a medium access control (MAC)control element (CE) that configures the spatial relation configurationas a spatial relation information element.
 30. An apparatus for wirelesscommunication at a base station, comprising: a processor; memory coupledwith the processor; and instructions stored in the memory and executableby the processor to cause the apparatus to: receive, from a userequipment (UE), a random access message during a random access procedurebetween the UE and the base station; transmit, to the UE, a controlsignal that includes a spatial relation configuration for transmission,by the UE, of an uplink signal, the spatial relation configurationindicating that transmission of the uplink signal is via a transmit beamused in transmitting the random access message; and receive, from theUE, the uplink signal using the transmit beam in accordance with thespatial relation configuration.